The Lifta That Never Will Be - Features - Haaretz - Israel News Haaretz.com
The Lifta That Never Will Be
Instead of building luxury homes over the abandoned village, Israel could use the hillside ruins to preserve Arab memory and heal a rift. Don't hold your breath
Esther Zandberg Feb 03, 2011 1:53 AM
iNakba app shows two sides of Israel's war story
The first Arab residents have begun to enter their new homes in the village of Lifta at the western approach to Jerusalem. Many of them are descendants of Palestinian families who lived there until the eve of the Israeli War of Independence in 1948. When they left the village, it remained abandoned for decades and its ruins became a symbol of the destruction of the Palestinian community in Israel.
The village has been reconstructed according to a building plan advanced by the Israel Lands Administration in cooperation with residents' families. The streets teem with life and tourism and commerce are flourishing; boutique hotels, bed-and-breakfasts, souvenir shops and a colorful market have opened.
Lifta outside Jerusalem. The Palestinian ruins will become yet another Israeli luxury housing project.Emil Salman
