FINDING LIFTA

Enacting the Erased Land

Context

The land of Lifta exists in the present, although hidden beneath layers of conflicted urbanism. While the village stands as a contested space, its agricultural lands have become almost indistinguishable within modern day Jerusalem. However there are some exceptions that are apparent only when looking through a specific lense. These exceptions are manifested in the outlines of certain neighborhoods, in the resilience of ancient roads, and in the remaining Liftawis who continue to reside on Lifta land. These refugees oversee the area and fight for the protection, preservation, and return to their homes which have grown into historical ruins.

26 Linear Kilometers of Spatio-Political Conflict

A walk along the periphery of Lifta’s tribal boundaries* will reveal a unique social, cultural, and political cross section of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Lifta continues to be strategically located within Jerusalem by straddling along the Green Line. The area is composed by several landmarks which include the ruins of Lifta, and two out of the eight Ring Neighborhoods in Jerusalem. Also included is a central node of transborder highways, a high-tech industrial park, the separation barrier, and the Hebrew University.

The Palestinian portions of this area contain the commercial neighborhood of Bab a-Zahara, olive tree farms, and multiple traces of informal growth. Residential towers emerge upon crossing the

No 1: Stones as marker

No 2: Laser as projected line work

No 5: Directional pole as acknowledgement

No 6: CMU block as planter

No 9: Demolished site as ruin

No 10: Turkish coffee cart as information hub

Green Line and structures dating back to the British Mandate remain abandoned in the neighborhood of Romema. Rounding out the journey is Jerusalem’s largest cemetery and views towards the “Area B” village of Beit Iksa.

Musha’ and the Politics of Mapmaking

The parceling and redistribution of Lifta began in 1958 with the Ottoman Land Laws. Prior to this time, Palestinians practiced the Musha’ system which entailed a shared approach to agricultural lands. In contrast, the Ottoman laws required landowners to register ownership under one individual. A great amount of manipulation and falsification occurred during this process which resulted in collective land being registered under one villager or Ottoman administrators and merchants. In the case of the latter, Palestinians continued to retain possession of their land but in effect became tenants of absentee owners.

In 1923 the Mandate government developed plans to partition the lands into parcels. Surveys and mapping systems were developed in order to define geographic boundaries in relation to specific coordinates. These, among many other events, laid the foundation for a systematization of land settlement and foreign sales in 1928.

During the 1948 Palestine War, 700,000 Palestinians were expelled from their lands.

Among these refugees were approximately 2,550 Liftawis. The 1949 Armistice Agreements sought to establish demarcation lines between a newly formed state and its neighboring countries. These boundaries resulted in the division of Jerusalem.

During this time, Liftawis returned to the portion of their land that remained within Palestinian control.

In 1967 Israel captured East Jerusalem during the Six-Day War and the remainder of Lifta became annexed land.

Today, Lifta survives as the last unoccupied Palestinian village within the State of Israel and many refugees, some spread across the globe, continue to visit their land.

Map as a Strategy

Finding Lifta is an invitation to help enact the illegible land through a series of urban interventions that confront the erasure of Palestinian villages. This pamphlet contains a palette of methods to mark the extent of Lifta’s agricultural boundaries as well as a map registering its urban footprint. By engaging in this cartographic experiment, whether it is as a contributor or participant, you will begin to read the city of Jerusalem through a new and critical lense.

Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation Columbia University

Finding Lifta: Enacting the Erased Land Facebook.com/findinglifta

Concept and design: Jose Alexandro Brunner

No 3: Letters as living memory

No 4: Votives as symbols of remembrance

Musha’

“ A system of cultivation whereby shares of land are periodically allotted on a rotational basis to each cultivator within a community.”

Zeina B. Ghandour

No 7: Sign as reminder

No 8: Tiles as street medium

No 11: Building as projector screen

No 12: Grape trellis as ornament original document was distributed among Lifta refugees in the form of a half/tri fold pamphlet

Lifta

MAGICIAN: END OF YEAR SHOW

Site model as projection surface

Produced with the use of a cnc mill and finished in gesso