Photo Essay - Zochrot Visit to Haifa
The following photo essay is the result of a Zochrot tour to
Haifa in November 2004 as part of Zochrot's mission to explain the
real history of Israel and the Nakba to Israeli Jews. The tour took
visitors into old Haifa much of it remaining as it was after the
Nakba in 1948. Israeli Jews have taken over most buildings as the
owners are declared absentees. Some buildings are being prepared
for redevelopment as luxury apartments with views of the harbor
below and Akka (Acre) across the bay. Haifa was once a majority
Arab city, a thriving Palestinian Arab center of commerce.
Haifa, Israel today is a city of 275,000 with grand vistas and
boulevards, a renowned university, magnificent architecture from
the 1800s and art deco from the early 20th century, the main shrine
of the Baha'i faith, a bustling port, restaurants, bars, cafes, a
beach and a thriving culture of writers, cinemas and live theatres.
Haifa's port was first developed in 1908 by the Ottoman Turks and
expanded by the British in 1929. It is now considered Israel's main
port. Haifa is less than 100 km north of Tel Aviv, 40 km from the
Lebanese border and across the bay from the ancient city of
Akka.
But there is another Haifa, the Haifa built on an Arab Palestinian
city. On 21 April 1948, 5,000 soldiers organized by Haganah (Jewish
paramilitaries) and IZL troops others attacked the city which was
defended by only about 500 Palestinian volunteers and the Arab
Liberation Army. Some 72,000 Palestinians fled north from the city,
mainly to Lebanon, and 41,500 from surrounding areas.
Palestinian Arab pushed into the sea, flee by
boat
Many Arab Palestinians from Haifa were pushed into the sea and fled
by boat to Akka across the bay and to Tyre, Saida and Beirut,
Lebanon.
In December 1947, Zionist forces planted a bomb in the Arab area of
Haifa near the Palestinian Oil Refinery. On 29 February 1948, they
destroyed most of al-Abasyah neighbourhood and on 22 March, Zionist
forces, disguised as British officers, planted a bomb that killed
and injured 36, mostly women and children, and destroyed several
public buildings. More Arabs fled the city culminating in a Haganah
broadcast which terrorized residents into fleeing.
The Jewish population of Haifa numbered 6,200 in 1922, rising to
75,500 in 1945, about 54 per cent of the population, and to more
than 85,000 in 1949. Of the more than 61,000 former Palestinian
Arab residents of Haifa, only 3,500 remained by 1949 and they were
in constant fear for their lives as they watched the destruction
and looting of their homes and possessions.
Many of the homes, stores, warehouses and factories were taken over
immediately, others remained empty and damaged. Under Israeli law,
many of the empty homes were taken because the Palestinian Arabs
had fled. They were unable to return so they were declared
absentees even if they were internally displaced, living in
Israel.
The juridical situation of title to property in Israel is complex
but two institutions control all property of the displaced
Palestinians: the State, which has taken title to 'State domain',
and individually-owned refugee property through the Custodian of
Absentee Property, established by the Absentees' Property Law of
1950; and the Jewish National Fund (JNF), which has 'acquired' part
of the land of the displaced Palestinians, and is prohibited by its
Charter from selling any of the land it acquires. All property is
held as the collective property of the entire Jewish people. Under
section 4 (a), of the 1950 law "all absentees' property is vested
in the Custodian" who may transfer such property to the Development
Authority, established by the Development Authority Law of 1950 but
the Authority is prohibited by section 3 (4) (a) of the same law
from selling or otherwise transferring the right of property
ownership except to the State, JNF or municipalities and other
local authorities.
Learning the real story of Haifa
I was brought up here and lived here most of my life, said a recent
visitor. But I never knew this Haifa was here. She was on the
Zochrot tour to Haifa which left Tel Aviv early on 6 November 2004.
A bus load, mainly Jewish Israelis, came from from Tel Aviv, others
joined in Haifa.
Zochrot seeks to explain the Nakba and Israel's responsibility for
the Nakba to Israeli Jews. One of its activities is visiting
destroyed Palestinian villages and remaining cities such as Haifa
and Ashkelon where it erects street signs in Arabic and Hebrew with
the names of streets as they were before 1948. Zochrot has also
petitioned the authorities to stop building luxury housing and
commercial areas on the remains of Palestinian villages. (See,
interview with Zochrot founder Eitan Bronstein, al-Majdal, No. 19,
September 2003, pp. 20-23 and website, www.nakbainhebrew.com with
English pages)
There is not just one other Haifa, there are really three Haifas:
one on Mount Carmel with modern hotels and homes, one on the side
of the mountain with Israeli Jews living in the former homes of the
Palestinians who fled in 1948 and a third almost empty city at the
bottom of the mountain near the port which contains buildings left
as they were in in 1948, looking bombed out like a German city
after the second World War. A derelict Arab cemetery with
tombstones atilt is full of rubbish. The only building restored and
in good condition is the mosque.
Ron Wilkinson is a media consultant with BADIL.