A time-capsule ancient settlement, uninhabited for more than 60 years, is at the centre of an increasingly bitter conservation struggle in the shadowof modern Jerusalem. Robin Stummer reports on the fight for the past and future of Lifta
The last ofoldPalestine O
nce, the hilly, rocky landscape around Jerusalem was dotted with villages and hamlets. Built of the local
yellow-grey sandstone, squat, thick-walled, angular and compact, the appearance of the buildings has remained largely unchanged since the time of King David. Before the spread of electric lights,
a process which began in earnest after the First World War, Jerusalem’s night skies were exceptionally beautiful – a dense blue-black scattered with endless pinpoints of starlight fading to the horizon, a spectacle which seldom failed to beguile travellers from Europe. And in the hills around, sporadic flickers of oil and rush lamps were the only reminder that anyone lived in this apparent wilderness. Of course, the land of Palestine
was indeed inhabited, and had been formillennia. Most of those villages, predominantly but not exclusively Palestinian and numbered in the hundreds, were cleared, destroyed or appropriated in the bitter conflicts that followed the establishment of the state of Israel. Now a battle is underway to
protect Lifta – the very last intact, traditional Palestinian village that has not been demolished or taken over by settlers – from extensive re-development and demolition. Lifta is a cluster of stone houses,
some of them believed to date from the 18th and 19th centuries, but others much older. It now finds itself an easy walk from expanding Jerusalem, whose centre is only three miles away. With origins believed to stretch back
Facing page and this page, the village of Lifta, which can trace its origins back to Roman times and earlier. Many of its buildings are ancient. Developers offer assurances that heritage conservation laws will be adhered to. Opponents of development argue that this would not be possible in a compact and sensitive site such as Lifta
at least to the time of the Romans, and probably far earlier, Lifta was a thriving agricultural settlement and also renowned for the high quality of needlework and traditional embroidered bridal gowns produced in the village. It grew from around 400 villagers in the late 16th century to just under 3,000 by 1948. In late 1947 and early 1948 the
indigenous population, mainly Palestinian, evacuated the village as the conflict reached their community. Several villagers were shot. Bussed out en masse to East Jerusalem, Lifta’s inhabitants were never to return. Portions of the village were demolished, but much of the heart remained intact, a ghost village, save for occasional squatters and walkers.
Cornerstone, Vol 32, No 3 2011 61
PA/BETH BOWMAN/DEMOTIX
OURIA TAMOR/ISRAEL SUN
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