Re:[pace] Please help save Lifta

["a_roveroni\@libero\.it" <a_roveroni at libero.it>]

Thank you Mary for your information on Lifta petition!

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From      : pace-request at peacelink.it
To          : 
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Date      : Fri, 27 Nov 2009 17:21:08 +0100
Subject : [pace] Please help save Lifta







> We ask that you please take a few moments to sign 
> a petition that will be sent to the World 
> Monuments Fund so that Israeli plans to destroy 
> the ethnically cleansed village of Lifta can be 
> stopped and that this site can be added to the 
> list of cultural patrimony that must be 
> protected. Please pass this along and publicise 
> the project. The date for final collection of 
> signatures is nearing, so let's spread the word.
> 
> http://palestinethinktank.com/2009/11/26/help-save-the-palestinian-village-of-lifta-from-total-destruction/
> 
> 
> Help save the Palestinian village of Lifta from total destruction
> 
> By 
> <http://palestinethinktank.com/author/guest-post/>Guest 
> Post • Nov 26th, 2009 at 23:18 • Category: 
> <http://palestinethinktank.com/category/action_alert/>Action 
> Alert, 
> <http://palestinethinktank.com/category/culture_heritage/>Culture 
> and Heritage, 
> <http://palestinethinktank.com/category/israel/>Israel, 
> <http://palestinethinktank.com/category/newswire/>Newswire, 
> <http://palestinethinktank.com/category/palestine/>Palestine, 
> <http://palestinethinktank.com/category/petitions/>Petitions, 
> <http://palestinethinktank.com/category/zionism/>Zionism
> 
> <http://palestinethinktank.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/lifta.jpg>
> lifta
> Lifta, a most picturesque Palestinian village, 
> lies on the slopes of West Jerusalem below the 
> highway linking it to Tel-Aviv. It has been 
> abandoned since the invading Hagana underground 
> forces backed by the Stern Gang drove the last of 
> its Palestinian inhabitants in 1948 during the ethnic cleansing of Palestine.
> 
> It was the one single event which changed the 
> nature of the place and the whole region. 
> Although dozens of houses were destroyed, many of 
> them still remain poised on the landscape.
> 
> Lifta is considered by many as a rare and fine 
> example of Palestinian rural architecture with 
> narrow streets aligned with the slopes of the 
> mountains around it. Its cubist forms are a 
> wonderful manifestation of the mastery of the 
> Palestinian stone masons who were the indigenous 
> owners and builders of these houses.
> 
> Today Lifta is more or less a ghost town 
> suspended in space and remains deserted despite 
> the fact that most of its original Palestinian 
> inhabitants live in the surrounding communities. 
> The Israeli authorities refuse to allow them to return.
> 
> Now the Jerusalem Municipality has produced plans 
> to turn Lifta into a luxurious and exclusive 
> Jewish development – reinventing its history in the process.
> 
> The Plan, numbered 6036, was designed by two 
> architectural offices: G. Kartas – S. Grueg and 
> S. Ahronson, as part of the “local space planning 
> of Jerusalem”. The plan was submitted on June 28, 
> 2004, and according to its title refers to “The 
> Spring of National”. The plan, submitted to the 
> Jerusalem Municipality Planning Committee in 
> 2004, was approved by a regional committee.
> 
> In 2005, objections to the Plan were raised by 
> several groups, including Bimkom (alternative 
> center for Israeli planning) and the 
> representatives of the regional committee of the 
> organization and construction for the Al Quds-Jerusalem area.
> 
> Main Issues:
> 
> • The original Palestinian inhabitants of Lifta, 
> their memories of the village, their exile and 
> longing to return to Lifta are not mentioned, or 
> even considered by the Municipality Master Plan.
> 
> • Lifta captures the moment of destruction of 
> Palestinian life in 1948. Its 3,000 original 
> inhabitants fled – mostly to East Jerusalem and 
> to the Ramallah area. However, unlike many of the 
> 530 Palestinian villages and towns conquered and 
> bulldozed during the war of 1947/48, a few of 
> Lifta’s houses remain almost intact, yet deserted 
> and declared ‘officially’ resettled.
> 
> • These set of circumstances have placed Lifta in 
> a unique position: its original inhabitants are 
> still around, living in the OPT and the Chicago 
> area with a desire that the injustices done in 
> 1948 be acknowledged and repaired.
> 
> • In Israel, renovation projects are frequently 
> used to build a national narrative, ignoring the 
> deep contradictions between planning and human 
> rights that inevitably arise out of such initiatives.
> 
> • With Lifta, we have a place where a new 
> national transformation results in the erasure of 
> another’ people’s memory as evidenced in the new Masterplan.
> 
> • Lifta is a tangible embodiment of the larger 
> context of events in the region during 1947/48. 
> Lifta can be a vital place for contemplating and 
> understanding the concept of historical continuity.
> 
> • Lifta’s heritage is a story of a multicultural 
> society, embracing a strong sense of an 
> ethnically and religiously diverse community of 
> Muslims, Jews and Christians which encapsulated a 
> healthy civil equality amongst its inhabitants 
> and the neighbouring communities. If Lifta were 
> to be rejuvenated with due care to preserving its 
> memory, it could offer a unique opportunity for 
> the start of a new dialogue towards a conciliatory outcome.
> 
> Petition’s Aim:
> 
> This petition aims to save Lifta through the 
> World Monuments Fund , amongst others, and to 
> draw attention to this site which has been 
> threatened by neglect, vandalism and forced occupation by extremist settlers.
> 
> 
> <http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/Lifta/index.html>Sign the petition
> 
> Please also visit the 
> sponsor:  <http://www.1948.org.uk/>http://www.1948.org.uk/
> 
> 

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