Special Issue - "Palestinian Coastal Cities: Colonisation, Neoliberalism, and Resistance"
The latest issue of Qadaya Israeliya (Israeli Affairs) is dedicated to a critical examination of renewed settlement activity within Palestinian coastal cities, namely Jaffa, Haifa, Lydda, and Acre. Despite the displacement of the majority of the indigenous population in 1948, Arab Palestinians have persisted in these cities, serving as guardians of historical memory. The May 2021 uprising and its aftermath brought to light deep national, social, and economic rifts within these cities, challenging the notion of "mixed cities" promoted in Israeli discourse as a symbol of tolerance.
This issue explores the multifaceted dimensions of the ongoing transformations in Palestinian coastal cities, marked by systematic Israeli constraints that include settler Torah Nucleus initiatives, Jewish capital-driven gentrification, municipal control over housing rights, and top-down planning schemes. Each of these elements contributes to Judaization policies seeking to either displace Palestinians or make their social life unfeasible.
The settler movement's Torah Nucleus, previously associated with the hills of the occupied West Bank, is now instrumentalized to revive ideological Zionist settlement activity within Israel. This reflects a dilution of the Green Line, symbolizing a reciprocal process where Israel not only occupies and settles in the West Bank but also faces attempts to settle within its own borders. The persistence of Palestinians in coastal cities challenges the narrative that the occupation was completed in 1948, prompting efforts to prove Jewish existence anew and ushering in a new stage in the conflict.
Titled "Palestinian Coastal Cities: Colonisation, Neoliberalism, and Resistance," this issue features in-depth analyses by various contributors. Amir Makhoul sheds light on Haifa's transformations and the policy of "coexistence," while Michal Hass explores elimination processes in Yafa (Jaffa) through the lenses of gentrification and urban renewal. Yael Shmaryahu-Yeshurun and Daniel Monterescu delve into the history of Torah Nucleus in Jaffa, revealing a new model of gentrification grounded in national intolerance. Yara Sa'di proposes the use of "demolition" as a research methodology to unveil the fate of Palestinian heritage buildings, uncovering structures of violence. Muhammad Halim takes readers to a coffee shop in Lydda, exposing Torah Nucleus' efforts to settle hearts and reimpose Zionist control.
The issue also includes articles on various topics, such as Nago Wolff's exploration of the divorcement of Holocaust education from human rights in Israel, Moshe Behar and Zvi Ben-Dor's reconsideration of the "Mizrahi question" within Zionism, and Walid Habbas's methodological-theoretical article on borders and borderland studies.
In the Archive section, Malek Samarah compiles lectures and conversations revealing U.S. pressure on Britain to accept the annexation of the Litani River and Mount Hermon to Israel. Khaled Hourani provides a critical review of Muhammad Jabali's "WH Entrapment of the Place: A Critical Study of Fines Art in Israel" in the book review section. The Library section offers a review of key Israeli publications.
We invite readers to engage with this comprehensive exploration of the challenges and resistance unfolding in Palestinian coastal cities, shedding light on the complex dynamics at play within these urban spaces.
