Statistic/Fact	Value
Israeli occupation date	January 1, 1948
Distance from district center	5 (km) West of Jerusalem
Elevation from the sea	675 (meters)
Map location	See location number #4 on the map
Israeli acts of terror	Six people were gunned down on the 28th December 1947 when Jewish terrorists (probably from Begin's IZL or the Stern gang) shot them in the village coffee house.
Exodus Cause	Military assault by Jewish troops
Village remains after destruction by Israelis	Lifta was mostly destroyed with the exception of few deserted houses (including the village mosque and its club) and some houses are used by homeless and hippie Israelis, see Pictures section for details.
Ethnically cleansing by Israelis	Soon after the terror act on Lifta's coffee house, its population was terrorized repeatedly into leaving by Menachem Begin's IZL and Yitzhak Shamir's Stern terror gangs. By February 1948, the village was completely emptied and all of its inhabitants were trucked to East Jerusalem.
Land ownership before occupation	Ethnic Group Land Ownership (Dunums) Arab 7,780 Jewish 756 Public 207 Total 8,743
Land usage in 1945	Land Usage Type Arab (Dunum) Jewish (Dunum) Area planted w/ olives 1,044 0 Planted W/ Cereal 3,248 288 Built up 324 102 Cultivable 3,248 288 Non-Cultivable 4,415 366
Population before occupation	Year Population 1596 396 1922 1,451 1931 1,893 1945 2,550 1948 2,958 Est. Refugees 1998 18,165
Number of houses	In (1931): 410 (includes Schneller's Quarter)
Town's name through history	During the Biblical and Roman periods, Lifta was known by Nephtoah, the Byzantines called it Nephtho, and the Crusades referred to Lifta with Clepsta.
Schools	Lifta had two elementary schools, one was for boys and the other for girls.
Notable people from town	In 1834, Lifta was the site of a battle in which the Egyptian army under Ibrahim Pasha (the son of Muhammad Ali) defeated local rebels led by a prominent local ruler, al-Shaykh Qasim al-Ahmad.
Religious institutions	One mosque (remain standing)
Shrines/maqams	A shrine for a local sage known by al-Shaykh Badr.
Nearby wadies & rivers	The village overlooks Wadi Salman, also Wadi al-Shami was used for agriculture and providing irrigation water.
Water supplies	Lifta's drinking water was drawn from a spring in Wadi al-Shami, see Pictures section for details.
Exculsive jewish colonies on town's lands	Currently, it is the suburbs of West Jerusalem.
Related Maps	خرائط تفصيلية للمحافظة View from satellite Help us map this town at WikiMapia
More Information	Language External Links Arabic PalGates Hebrew Nakba in Hebrew   Nakba-Online

Bibliography and References

Town Today

According to the Palestinian historian Walid Khalidi, the village remaining structures on the village land are:
Most of the houses remaining on the site are deserted, although some have been restored for the use of Jewish families. A basin that had been built around the spring in Wadi al-Shami lies in ruins. The mosque and the village club are still visible, north of the spring. Adjacent to the mosque, on the western side, is a cemetery covered with bushes and wild grass

• Nakba Oral History Podcast: Interview with Yousra Ismael Shanak
• Nakba Oral History Podcast: Interview with Muhammad 'Adawiyyeh
• Nakba Oral History Podcast: Interview with Muhammad Shihadih