Ansar (; also spelled Insar) is a municipality in the

Nabatieh Governorate Nabatieh Governorate (, ') is one of the nine governorates of Lebanon. The area of this governorate is 1,058 km2. The capital is Nabatieh. Districts The governorate is divided into four districts (Aqdiya, singular qadaa) containing 130 mu ...

region of southern

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

located between

Nabatieh Nabatieh (, ', Syriac-Aramaic: ܐܠܢܒܛܝܥ), or Nabatîyé (), is a city of the Nabatieh Governorate, in southern Lebanon. History Nabateans The most accepted theory is related to the Nabateans (spelled النبطي), an ancient Arab ...

and

Tyre, Lebanon Tyre (; ; ; ; ) is a city in Lebanon, and one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. It was one of the earliest Phoenician metropolises and the legendary birthplace of Europa (cons ...

, next to the village of Doueir. It has a population of 31,970.

History

Ottoman era

In 1875,

Victor Guérin Victor Guérin (; 15 September 1821 – 21 September 1890) was a French people, French intellectual, explorer and amateur archaeologist. He published books describing the geography, archeology and history of the areas he explored, which included ...

passed by the village (which he called ''Naser'') on his travels in the region, describing it located "on a hill" and being "quite considerable, and its population consists of

Metualis Lebanese Shia Muslims (), communally and historically known as ''matāwila'' (, plural of ''mutawālin''; pronounced as ''metouéle'' in Lebanese Arabic), are Lebanese people who are adherents of Shia Islam in Lebanon, which plays a major role ...

and "Greeks united".

Modern era

After the

1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon The 1982 Lebanon War, also called the Second Israeli invasion of Lebanon, began on 6 June 1982, when Israel invaded southern Lebanon. The invasion followed a series of attacks and counter-attacks between the Palestine Liberation Organization ...

, the IDF built a prison camp outside Ansar. The prisoners lived in tents with the camp divided into sections, each containing fifty 3x3 metre tents and surrounded by 4 metre high barbed wire fences. At its peak the camp held 9,000 prisoners. Six months after the camp was opened the commanding officer was replaced following reports of routine beatings, food and water being withheld, prisoners blindfolded for long periods and insufficient sanitation. In February 1983, during a mass hunger strike, several prisoners were shot dead. On the first anniversary of the invasion there were demonstrations during which guards were afraid to enter the compounds. On 8 August 1983, several prisoners escaped in a tunnel that had taken 45 days to dig. In October three prisoners were buried alive after the guards discovered their tunnel. The following month 4,500 prisoners from Ansar were released in exchange for six Israeli soldiers held by the PLO. Previously 200 prisoners had been transferred to Israel. They were not included in the exchange. 1,100 of those released were bussed into Israel and then flown to

Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...

. The Israeli prisoners were taken in a small boat to a French warship off

Tripoli Tripoli or Tripolis (from , meaning "three cities") may refer to: Places Greece *Tripolis (region of Arcadia), a district in ancient Arcadia, Greece * Tripolis (Larisaia), an ancient Greek city in the Pelasgiotis district, Thessaly, near Larissa ...

. A new camp was subsequently built close by with huts instead of tents. By January 1984 it held 200 prisoners. In 1985 one source estimated that the camp held 15,000 prisoners, mainly Lebanese Shiites. An Israel Army reservist who had served at Ansar was quoted in the newspaper ''

Maariv ''Maariv'' or ''Maʿariv'' (, ), also known as ''Arvit'', or ''Arbit'' (, ), is a Jewish prayer service held in the evening or at night. It consists primarily of the evening '' Shema'' and ''Amidah''. The service will often begin with two ...

'' as saying that the old camp had been sitting on top of a tunnel system. In 1988 when the Israeli army opened a prison camp in the

Negev The Negev ( ; ) or Naqab (), is a desert and semidesert region of southern Israel. The region's largest city and administrative capital is Beersheba (pop. ), in the north. At its southern end is the Gulf of Aqaba and the resort town, resort city ...

close to the Egyptian border,

Ktzi'ot Prison Ktzi'ot Prison (, ) is an Israeli detention facility located in the Negev desert south-west of Beersheba. It is Israel's largest detention facility in terms of land area, encompassing . During the First Intifada, Ktzi'ot was the location of ...

, to hold prisoners detained during the

First Intifada The First Intifada (), also known as the First Palestinian Intifada, was a sustained series of Nonviolent resistance, non-violent protests, acts of civil disobedience, Riot, riots, and Terrorism, terrorist attacks carried out by Palestinians ...

, it became known as Ansar III. It is still being used. During the

2006 Lebanon War The 2006 Lebanon War was a 34-day armed conflict in Lebanon, fought between Hezbollah and Israel. The war started on 12 July 2006, and continued until a United Nations-brokered ceasefire went into effect in the morning on 14 August 2006, thoug ...

, the village was bombed by Israeli forces and five civilians were killed. Ansar is the hometown of the poet and journalist

Said Fayad Mohammad Said Ibrahim Efendi Fayad (; 1921–2003) known as Said Fayad, was a Lebanese people, Lebanese poet and Literary journalism, literary journalist from the village of Ansar, Lebanon, Ansar in the Nabatieh Governorate of southern Lebanon. ...

(1921 - 2003).

Demographics

In 2014

Muslims Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

made up 98.81% of registered voters in Ansar. 96.91% of the voters were Shiite Muslims. https://lub-anan.com/المحافظات/النبطية/النبطية/انصار/المذاهب/

References

Bibliography

* *

External links

Insar
Localiban {{Nabatieh District Populated places in Nabatieh District Shia Muslim communities in Lebanon