Ancient village is one of hundreds that were violently depopulated by Jewish militias as Israel was formed in 1948
In a quiet valley in Jerusalem lies a village frozen in time.
Its stone buildings have stood for centuries and have long since been overtaken by plants and weeds.
This is Lifta and it is one of the hundreds of Palestinian villages that were violently depopulated by Jewish militias who would become part of Israel`s army and police forces following the establishment of the state in 1948.
Situated less than 5km west of Sheikh Jarrah – the district in East Jerusalem that became a flashpoint for protests and violence last month as 12 Palestinian families battle eviction – Lifta has since moved into the media spotlight as advocacy groups seek to prevent planned Israeli developments that threaten to erase history.
Saving Lifta
The fight for Lifta began months before Israel was established in May 1948. The village`s strategic location on the road to Tel Aviv from Jerusalem made it desirable for paramilitary Jewish forces, including the Lehi and Haganah.
When an irregular Arab militia moved in to defend the hamlet in December 1947, firefights broke out against Jewish patrols.
According to Israeli historian Benny Morris, a machine-gun and grenade attack in a cafe killed seven Palestinians and prompted some villagers to flee to safety.
In January 1948, Lehi forces blew up three houses and, the following month, Arab militias abandoned Lifta, leaving the remaining Palestinian families without any defence.
The Haganah moved into the village, shooting locals and forcing others onto trucks headed for East Jerusalem.
Prior to its capture, about 2,900 Palestinians lived in Lifta, in homes made by hand, said architect Antoine Raffoul, founder of 1948.org.uk, who works with the Committee to Save Lifta.
Lifta is one of the most beautiful architectural urban developments I`ve seen anywhere, he told The National.
“East Jerusalem was very depressing for a lot of [the expelled villagers]. So the young left, but never forgot.”
The 57 remaining houses were left to deteriorate until Israeli forces destroyed them in the 1950s to make them uninhabitable for Liftawis seeking to return.
Unlike the hundreds of other Palestinian villages that were emptied, bulldozed and built over after the war, Lifta has remained virtually untouched.
Over the years, several plans were developed to “renovate” the village.
In 2006, a plan was presented to build a Jewish museum, luxury hotel, shopping mall, and Israeli housing. It was approved in 2009 by the Israel Antiquities Authority.
“In 2010, official tenders were issued for Lifta to be divided and [destroyed],” Mr Raffoul said.
The Coalition to Save Lifta filed an objection to the plans at the Municipal Court of Jerusalem a year later. The court threw out the plan and ordered a more detailed survey of the site.
As an architect promoting cultural sites, I would defend and protect Lifta even if it had been a Jewish village
Antoine Raffoul, Coalition to Save Lifta
Meanwhile, the coalition contacted the New York-based World Monument Fund and Lifta was placed on the World Monument Watch list in 2018.
“The new survey [by the Israeli Land Authority] confirmed that Lifta merits preservation rather than redevelopment,” Mr Raffoul said.
However, last month, the Israeli Land Authority announced it would welcome bids on tenders to develop Lifta on July 4.
The coalition is now racing against time to stop a revised renovation plan from coming into effect. If the plans, known as Project 6036, go ahead, the last remaining village in West Jerusalem and a symbol of hope for Palestinians seeking a right to return will be destroyed.
“As an architect promoting cultural sites, I would defend and protect Lifta even if it had been a Jewish village,” said Mr Raffoul.
Yacoub Odeh, 81, and his family were among those who were expelled from their homes in Lifta. Today, he leads tours in what has been described as modern-day Pompeii.
Lifta in my memory is like a picture with two faces. There is the beautiful life that I lived in Lifta before the Nakba, he told The National. The other picture is one of a miserable life, under British colonial occupation and Zionist armed gangs, terrorists.
Mr Odeh remembers being at home with his younger brother and mother when the attack began. He was placed in a lorry to East Jerusalem with four other families while his father stayed behind to fight.
“That’s when we became refugees, he said.
Like many, he escaped with nothing but the clothes on his back, thinking he would soon return home.
“The next day we were knocking on doors, asking for food. We had nothing.
Historians argue that the Nakba, or catastrophe, began with the signing of the Balfour Declaration in 1917, in which the British promised Jews a homeland in Palestine. Others say it began in earnest in November 1947, six months prior to Israel’s declaration of independence and the subsequent Arab-Israeli War.
By the end of the war, in 1949, more than 700,000 Palestinians – or about two-thirds of the population at the time – had either fled or been forcibly removed from their homes. An estimated 500 villages were depopulated and partially, if not completely, demolished.
Original article
Photo on front page: Lifta has come to symbolize a hope of eventual return for the more than seven million Palestinian refugees around the world. Source: William Parry for The National. Photo on this page: Yacoub Odeh, 81, was a child when he and his family were violently forced from their homes in Lifta. Source: William Parry for The National.
