Identifying Key Communities in Saving Lifta

from Thesis Booklet_Part 1

by Sidney Sim

Access to Lifta

Israeli Palestinian Bereaved Families For Peace

Pros [ + ] Cons [ - ]

Successfully managed to cultivate good relationships between Palestinian and Israeli civilians through dialogue

Trying to highlight the issue to students in Israeli High Schools and provide students a new perspective through

Can arrange and host dialogues anywhere physically or online Palestinian right to return is acknowledged

Not involved in construction sector

At the entrance to Jerusalem lies Lifta, a beautiful untouched reserve. It is a meeting place for diverse visitors, and a living testimony to the development of local agriculture, design and ways of life.

Lifta, a cultural reserve

Lifta’s unique beauty combined wildlife with the historical remains of the Arab village including the remains of its traditional agricultural industry.

The Lifta Spring, once the centre of the village continues to connect various communities to this day.

It’s no wonder that Lifta is being nominated for recognition as a World Heritage Site. Lifta is a green space, open to all. And it reflects the bonds between community, nature and heritage.

Lifta also serves as an accessible green lung for 125,000 residents in surrounding neighbourhoods.

But these days, our Lifta is in danger. An exclusive, upper class only neighbourhood is set to be built here.

Plans include a modern road system with huge retaining walls. It would destroy the cultural landscape of Lifta.

The Israel Antiquities Authority found that the proposed plan would harm this remarkable site and damage the Lifta Springs.

So what can we do?

We offer an alternative plan.

1. Promote Lifta’s Conservation Plan

2. Rebrand Lifta as a popular spot for local leisure activities

3. A tourist attaction that is located on the historical road to Jerusalem

4. Declare Lifta as an urban nature reserve

There is another way. Help us protect our beautiful village. Together we will save Lifta!

The Save Lifta Coalition consists of both Palestinian and Israeli volunteers. It was established to protect the village of Lifta from demolition. Construction plan 6036 by the Israeli Land Authority threatens to endanger the state of these historic ruins.

Currently, the coalition advocates for Lifta to be preserved as a heritage site and has been successful in submitting petitions which put construction plan 6036 on hold. Lifta has now been added into UNESCO’s tentative list of world heritage sites. The coalition sees the method of rebranding Lifta as a heritage reserve will be able to ensure its sustained existence.1

The promotional video does not publicly acknowledge the diaspora of Liftawi residents or their right of return. Daphna Golan-Agnon who is a sociology professor and on the coalition’s board explains that it is an issue that cannot be discussed now. For now, the main goal is to keep Lifta as it is and one day there can be more talks regarding the right of return.

This narrative has not been able to clarify on the right of return for Palestinians and Liftawis. Not to mention, it begs the question of who’s heritage are they trying to protect?

The coalition also sees Lifta as a valuable tourist attraction which once again, seems to ultimately reflect a boost in Israeli tourism.

Recently, a boutique hotel in Lifta has also started operating. The owner of this boutique hotel is called Yoni Yochanan. He is a Mizrahi Jew and an Israeli citizen born in Lifta and claims that he understands the pain of losing one’s home in Lifta. Hence why he is a part of the Save Lifta Coaltion as well.

However, the fact that he decided to renovate one of the homes in Lifta into a hotel for commercial purposes does not seem to reflect any form of solidarity with the Palestinians.

Hence, the goal for saving Lifta for this coalition does not seem to be a unified one.

Zochrot is an Israeli NGO who’s core mission is to advocate for the acknowledgement and accountability of the Israeli Jewish society regarding the ongoing injustice of the Nakba*. In order to do so, the organization uses walking tours in Lifta as a means to challenge Israeli Jewish preconceptions in regards to their highly skewed political and cultural beliefs.

Umar al-Ghubari is the main group facilitator for the walking tours in Lifta. During these tours, participants are taken around a few key sites in

Lifta where Umar explains the history behind these homes, the facts about why Liftawis had to flee, and also by using these remaining houses, is able to point out the planned expulsion of Lifta’s residents by Israeli militia.

Most importantly, this organization aligns its key focus to address the right of return for Palestinians as well as a call to end the ongoing colonization by Israel.

1. Umar explains that this main path was a key road for Lifta’s residents and how they all still remember how they had to run for their lives on this road when they were being attacked.

2. The building behind Umar previously belonged to a wealthy Palestinian family. However, when Lifta was resettled with Jewish immigrants, it was turned into a school for Jewish children.