Posted on February 2, 2005
By Dafna Golan-Agnon
In the coming days the Municipal Committee on Planning and Construction in
Jerusalem will be presenting its recommendations for the Lifta neighborhood to
the District Committee on Planning and Construction. The city committee is
recommending approval of a plan that in effect erases the memory of the
abandoned Palestinian village that can be seen in all its beauty at the entrance
and exit to the city on the road to Tel Aviv.
Lifta is the Palestinian village destroyed in 1948 most evident to Israeli eyes.
Its houses, which remain standing on the slope of the mountain, are a silent
testimony to the hundreds of villages and towns that were destroyed during the
establishment of the state. The building plan proposes to keep the houses in the
village but to bury them in the heart of a new neighborhood to be called Mei
Naftoah. The change of the name is also part of the erasure of the historical
evidence of the existence of a Palestinian village that was built long before
the state of Israel was established.
"Bamakom - Planners for Human Rights" and "Zochrot" are two
NPOs that approached the municipal committee last September asking for the
cancellation of the Lifta plan, and for the plans of the former village be
brought back into the public arena for debate. They demanded that new
instructions be given to preserve the remains of the village, its cemetery and
its mosque.
The opponents of the plan reminded the committee of the conclusions of the Or
Commission, which ruled that "the establishment of the State of Israel,
which the Jewish people celebrated as the fulfillment of a dream held for
generations, also involved the most traumatic collective historical memory in
the history of the Arab citizens - the Nakba."
The municipal committee, representing the public, responded with demonstrative
contempt to the opposition. Committee member Yair Gabai repeatedly interrupted
the speakers from the opponents of the plan with comments like "they get
their salaries from Europe" and "what happened to my father's house in
Baghdad?"
Committee members did promise not to build housing in the abandoned mosque, but
the ultra-Orthodox members of the committee, including chairman Yehoshua
Pollack, proposed building another synagogue for the village in the mosque, a
synagogue that apparently will remain unused.
The committee members did not hear, of course, the representatives of the
families whose homes were confiscated and who have never been allowed to return
to those homes. A large number of Lifta refugees live in East Jerusalem, but the
construction plan completely ignores their existence. On the other hand,
opposition to the plans by Jewish residents, some of whom are squatters in the
empty buildings and others who, as one of them said, bought the properties
"under a certain constellation," were heard at length by the
committee.
The committee decided to respond affirmatively to the Al Aqsa NPO, which asked
that the Muslim cemetery be marked off and not be used for construction. But
when the representative dared ask if he would be able to buy a property in the
new neighborhood, the hall filled with scornful laughter. "The High Court
has ruled that there can be no discrimination in the disbursement of land for
construction," Gabai responded with contempt in his voice. Other members of
the committee explained that no church or mosque would be built, only a
synagogue, but in any case they were not the ones to decide for whom the
neighborhood was being built.
It is possible and proper to develop Lifta as a village that preserves the
historical Palestinian memory of the place. Preserving the memory of the village
and its history could be a focal point for reconciliation between Jewish and
Arab citizens, and offer an experience that helps lead to a solution of peace
with our neighbors.
In a country that sanctifies memory, erasing Palestinian history is not only
immoral, it is also foolish. We will not be able to build a future worthy of the
name here if we erase and deny the memory of thousands of Palestinian refugees.
It is possible to take their homes and erase their villages from the face of the
earth, but as we know from Jewish history, longing for the roots and memories of
homes is preserved for many hundreds of years. It is still possible to preserve
the village, repair its buildings and turn it into a place of study of the past,
forming a basis for dialogue about a common future of Israelis and Palestinians.
The writer is a sociologist and teaches in the law faculty at the Hebrew
University
Click
here to get this report at Ha'aretz Daily
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