Jump to content

Ajami, Jaffa: Difference between revisions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Browse history interactively
← Previous editNext edit →
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
gentrification section: perceptions regarding government policies
→Gentrification projects: Correction to assumption that Tel-Aviv municipality actively tried to treat the housing crisis. sentence was misleading.
Tag: references removed
Line 18: Line 18:
== Gentrification projects ==
== Gentrification projects ==
[[File:Ajamij027.jpg|thumb|250px|Restored historic building]]
[[File:Ajamij027.jpg|thumb|250px|Restored historic building]]
In the wake of these socio-economic problems and the neighborhood's severe housing crisis, the Tel Aviv-Yafo municipality drew up plans to develop the neighborhood, which has subsequently increased housing prices and led to the exodus of a growing number of Arab residents.<ref name="Galili">{{cite news|last=Galili|first=Lily|title=First We'll Take Ajami|url=http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/features/first-we-ll-take-ajami-1.235742|accessdate=26/10/2010|newspaper=Ha'aretz|date=23/12/2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Abdel-Kader|first=Samira|title=Development or Expulsion?|url=http://makomakan.cet.ac.il/Article.aspx?ArticleID=c871caa8-624a-44a7-964e-308315a95889&Language=2|publisher=MakoMakan|accessdate=26/10/2010}}</ref> Many of Ajami's Palestinian residents feel that they have come to suffer under [[Tel Aviv-Yafo|Tel Aviv-Yafo's Municipality's]] plans to 'develop' the neighborhood.<ref>{{cite news|last=Galili|first=Lily|title=First We'll Take Ajami|url=http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/features/first-we-ll-take-ajami-1.235742|accessdate=26/10/2010|newspaper=Ha'aretz|date=23/12/2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Abdel-Kader|first=Samira|title=Development or Expulsion?|url=http://makomakan.cet.ac.il/Article.aspx?ArticleID=c871caa8-624a-44a7-964e-308315a95889&Language=2|publisher=MakoMakan|accessdate=26/10/2010}}</ref>Since the start of the gentrification process, many wealthy Jews have moved into the neighborhood.<ref>{{cite news|last=Kloosterman|first=Karin|title=Changes in the Air of Ajami|url=http://www.jpost.com/Home/Article.aspx?id=42958|newspaper=The Jerusalem Post|date=11/29/2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Solomon|first=Erika|title=Dream location, legal nightmare as Jaffa gentrifies|url=http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE60C1P920100113|accessdate=26 October 2010|newspaper=Reuters|date=13/01/2010}}</ref>
Despite these socio-economic problems and the neighborhood's severe housing crisis, the Tel Aviv-Yafo municipality drew up plans to develop the neighborhood, which subsequently increased housing prices and led to the exodus of a growing number of Palestinian residents. Many of Ajami's Palestinian residents feel that they have come to suffer under [[Tel Aviv-Yafo|Tel Aviv-Yafo's Municipality's]] plans to 'develop' the neighborhood.<ref>{{cite news|last=Galili|first=Lily|title=First We'll Take Ajami|url=http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/features/first-we-ll-take-ajami-1.235742|accessdate=26/10/2010|newspaper=Ha'aretz|date=23/12/2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Abdel-Kader|first=Samira|title=Development or Expulsion?|url=http://makomakan.cet.ac.il/Article.aspx?ArticleID=c871caa8-624a-44a7-964e-308315a95889&Language=2|publisher=MakoMakan|accessdate=26/10/2010}}</ref>Since the start of the gentrification process, many wealthy Jews have moved into the neighborhood.<ref>{{cite news|last=Kloosterman|first=Karin|title=Changes in the Air of Ajami|url=http://www.jpost.com/Home/Article.aspx?id=42958|newspaper=The Jerusalem Post|date=11/29/2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Solomon|first=Erika|title=Dream location, legal nightmare as Jaffa gentrifies|url=http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE60C1P920100113|accessdate=26 October 2010|newspaper=Reuters|date=13/01/2010}}</ref>


In addition, some 497 eviction and demolition orders have been served by the [[Amidar (company)|Amidar]], Israel's government-operated public housing company, targeting Ajami and Jabaliyya residents.<ref name="Galili"/><ref>{{cite web|last=Anarchists against the wall|title= Home Jaffa house demolition prevented, threat still pending|url=http://www.awalls.org/jaffa_house_demolition_prevented_threat_still_pending|accessdate=26/10/2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=No to house demolitions!|url=http://www.abnaa-elbalad.org/hadem07.html|publisher=Abnaa-Albalad|accessdate=26/10/2010}}</ref> Ajami residents claim that this is a result of discriminatory policies which date back to the establishment of the Israeli state, but the Amidar company says they are illegal squatters.<ref>{{cite news|last=Hai|first=Yigal|title=Protesters rally in Jaffa against move to evict local Palestinian families|url=http://www.haaretz.com/news/protesters-rally-in-jaffa-against-move-to-evict-local-arab-families-1.219152|accessdate=27/10/2010|newspaper=Ha'aretz|date=27/04/2007}}</ref>
In addition, some 497 eviction and demolition orders have been served by the [[Amidar (company)|Amidar]], Israel's government-operated public housing company, targeting Ajami and Jabaliyya residents.<ref name="Galili"/><ref>{{cite web|last=Anarchists against the wall|title= Home Jaffa house demolition prevented, threat still pending|url=http://www.awalls.org/jaffa_house_demolition_prevented_threat_still_pending|accessdate=26/10/2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=No to house demolitions!|url=http://www.abnaa-elbalad.org/hadem07.html|publisher=Abnaa-Albalad|accessdate=26/10/2010}}</ref> Ajami residents claim that this is a result of discriminatory policies which date back to the establishment of the Israeli state, but the Amidar company says they are illegal squatters.<ref>{{cite news|last=Hai|first=Yigal|title=Protesters rally in Jaffa against move to evict local Palestinian families|url=http://www.haaretz.com/news/protesters-rally-in-jaffa-against-move-to-evict-local-arab-families-1.219152|accessdate=27/10/2010|newspaper=Ha'aretz|date=27/04/2007}}</ref>

Revision as of 20:43, 2 December 2010

View of Ajami

Ajami (Template:Lang-ar, Template:Lang-he-n) is a neighborhood in Tel Aviv-Jaffa, Israel, situated south of Old Jaffa and north of the Jabaliyya neighborhood on the Mediterranean Sea.

History

Ajami, Jaffa

Ajami was founded during Ottoman rule over Palestine at the end of the 19th century by wealthy Maronite Christian Arabs. The neighborhood's streets were laid parallel to the coast, and a church and monastery of St. Antony were built. The neighborhood’s houses were built from limestone surrounded by large courtyards; the construction style reflected the economic ability of its initial residents.[1] The neighborhood is named after Ibrahim al-Ajami, one of prophet Muhammad's companions. According to a local tradition, he was buried in the south of the neighborhood. A mosque constructed at the site in 1895, al-Ajami, is named for him.[1]

Ajami played a significant role in the history of Jaffa and the Nakba, also known as the Israeli War of Independence. Following the decision by the British Government to end the Mandate for Palestine, violence erupted between the Jewish paramilitary groups (Haganah and Irgun) and Palestinian irregulars.[2] Jaffa witnessed some of the most violent of these encounters. On May 13, 1948, the day before the declaration of the Israeli state, Jaffa surrendered and Palestinian residents were forced to move into Ajami, where they were subject to martial law. By the end of the war, it is estimated that over 90% of Jaffa's Palestinian residents were expelled or fled. Some 4,000 remained in Jaffa.[3][4] For the next year, Ajami was “surrounded with a barbed wire fence and checkpoints inspected all those entering or leaving the area. Residents were only permitted to leave the neighborhood after receiving a permit from the [Israeli] military commander.”[5]

Over the years, Ajami became run-down and neglected,[6] and was reported to be the lowest-income neighborhood in Tel Aviv-Jaffa despite being known for its palatial villas and unique architectural styles prior to 1948.[7][8] The neighborhood suffers from a severe housing crisis and drug-use.[9][10]

Gentrification projects

Restored historic building

Despite these socio-economic problems and the neighborhood's severe housing crisis, the Tel Aviv-Yafo municipality drew up plans to develop the neighborhood, which subsequently increased housing prices and led to the exodus of a growing number of Palestinian residents. Many of Ajami's Palestinian residents feel that they have come to suffer under Tel Aviv-Yafo's Municipality's plans to 'develop' the neighborhood.[11][12]Since the start of the gentrification process, many wealthy Jews have moved into the neighborhood.[13][14]

In addition, some 497 eviction and demolition orders have been served by the Amidar, Israel's government-operated public housing company, targeting Ajami and Jabaliyya residents.[15][16][17] Ajami residents claim that this is a result of discriminatory policies which date back to the establishment of the Israeli state, but the Amidar company says they are illegal squatters.[18]

The housing crisis developed political overtones when one of the housing projects, B'emuna, said its apartments would be sold only to members of the religious-Zionist community.[19][20] In February 2010, the Tel Aviv District Court dismissed a stop work petition presented by 27 Ajami residents, which argued that the stipulation that housing in the project be available only to religious Jews discriminated against the neighborhood’s Arab residents.[21][22] In November 2010, the Supreme Court of Israel rejected the appeal and upheld the continuation of the project.[23]

Landmarks

Al-Ajami Mosque

Al-Ajami Mosque in Jaffa

The Ajami Mosque was established by Haj Yousef-Al-Manawi in 1895 on the shrine of Sheikh Ibrahim-Al-Ajami. It is located in the northern part of Ajami next to the Hassan Arafeh public school.[24] Under British rule, Ajami Mosque was the only mosque open for daily prayers.[25] The mosque and the adjoining school were previously owned by the Islamic Waqf, until the Israeli authorities annulled their status as Waqf property under Israel's Absentee's Property Law.[25]

Arab-Jewish community center

The Arab Jewish Community Center in Ajami

Ajami is the location of the Jaffa AJCC, a municipal community center in Tel Aviv-Jaffa catering to Jewish, Christian, and Muslim populations in the city.[26] The center was established in 1993, bringing together conflicting populations and educating towards reconciliation, recognition and cooperation. Both facilitated and unmediated encounters take place at the center between members of Jaffa’s diverse ethnic and age groups, including children from Jewish and Arab kindergartens, elementary and high school students, and adults.[27]

Peres Center for Peace

Peres Center for Peace

The Peres Center for Peace, located in the southern tip of Ajami, opened in December 2009 after 10 year of planning and construction. The building (2,500 sq.m.), a distinctive architectural landmark on the Jaffa coast, was designed by Italian architect Massimiliano Fuksas.[28]

Tourism and recreation

"The Old Man and the Sea" is a popular Arab seafood restaurant in the southern part of Ajami.[29][30] Abu Hassan is a small hummus restaurant located on the northern tip of Ajami. It was opened in 1959 by Ali Karawan and now has two additional branches in Jaffa.[31]

Notable residents

Fakhry Geday, born in the Ajami neighborhood in 1926, is a pharmacist, owner of the Al-Kamal Pharmacy that has been in the same location from the time of the British Mandate.[32] To neighborhood residents, it is a city landmark.[33] Geday is writing a history of the neighborhood.[7][34][35][36]

Omar Siksik, also born in Ajami, owns a local hardware store. He is the founder and chair of the Committee for the Arabs of Jaffa, and was recently elected to represent Jaffa in Tel-Aviv Yafo Municipality's city council.[37][38]

Film

The 2009 Israeli film Ajami directed by Scandar Copti and Yaron Shani was nominated as a foreign language film for the 2010 Oscars. Many characters in the film were played by non-professional actors who live in Ajami.[39]

References

  1. ^ a b ArchNet, Al-Ajami Neighborhood, retrieved 2010-03-06
  2. ^ Abu Lughod, Laila (2007). Nakba:. Columbia University Press. p. 192. ISBN 978-0-231-50970. {{cite book}}: Check |isbn= value: length (help)
  3. ^ Morris, Benny (2004). The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem Revisited. Cambridge University Press. p. 258.
  4. ^ Abou Shehadeh, Sami (2009). "Jaffa: From Eminence to Ethnic Cleansing". BADIL Organization. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  5. ^ "Unprotected Citizens" (PDF). The Arab Association for Human Rights. p. 9. Retrieved 10/15/2010. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help) [dead link‍]
  6. ^ Friedman, Ron (18/12/2009). "Peres Center Arrives Alongside Ajami". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 10/15/2010. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help)
  7. ^ a b LeBor, Adam (2006). City of Oranges: Arabs and Jews in Jaffa. Bloomsbury Publishing Plc. p. 249. ISBN 978-0747586029.
  8. ^ Humphries, Isabelle. "The Nakba Continues: The Ethnic Cleansing of Jaffa's Ajami Neighborhood". Washington Report on Middle East Affairs. Retrieved 27/10/2010. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  9. ^ "مئات المستوطنين يجتاحون البيوت العربية في يافا ويرددون "يجب طرد العرب"". لبلاب. 18/04/2010. Retrieved 28/10/2010. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help)
  10. ^ "صباح الخير يافا - شعارات "كهانا تسداك" (كهانا كان على حق) تملئ جدران يافا". Yaffa Today. 26/10/2010. Retrieved 28/10/2010. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help)
  11. ^ Galili, Lily (23/12/2007). "First We'll Take Ajami". Ha'aretz. Retrieved 26/10/2010. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help)
  12. ^ Abdel-Kader, Samira. "Development or Expulsion?". MakoMakan. Retrieved 26/10/2010. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  13. ^ Kloosterman, Karin (11/29/2009). "Changes in the Air of Ajami". The Jerusalem Post. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  14. ^ Solomon, Erika (13/01/2010). "Dream location, legal nightmare as Jaffa gentrifies". Reuters. Retrieved 26 October 2010. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  15. ^ Cite error: The named reference Galili was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  16. ^ Anarchists against the wall. "Home Jaffa house demolition prevented, threat still pending". Retrieved 26/10/2010. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  17. ^ "No to house demolitions!". Abnaa-Albalad. Retrieved 26/10/2010. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  18. ^ Hai, Yigal (27/04/2007). "Protesters rally in Jaffa against move to evict local Palestinian families". Ha'aretz. Retrieved 27/10/2010. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help)
  19. ^ Cook, Jonathan. "Jewish Settlements in Jaffa". Global Research. Retrieved 28/10/2010. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  20. ^ "פרוייקט יפו לציבור דתי לאומי". Kipa.co.il.
  21. ^ Hartman, Ben (19/07/2010). "Jaffa residents protest 'Jews-only' housing project". JPost. Retrieved 28/10/2010. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help)
  22. ^ مواسي, حسن (18/07/2010). "فلسطينيو الـ48 يتظاهرون ضد تهويد حي العجمي في يافا". Al-Arabeya. Retrieved 28/10/2010. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help)
  23. ^ "Court rejects Ajami residents' Land Authority petition". The Jerusalem Post. 7 11 2010. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  24. ^ Hassan Arafeh school
  25. ^ a b Yazbak, Mahmoud (2010). "The Islamic Waqf in Yaffa and the Urban Space: From the Ottoman State to the State of Israel" (PDF). Makan: Adalah's Journal for Land, Planning and Justice. The Right to a Spatial Narrative. 2. Adalah.org: 38. Retrieved 10/15/2010. {{cite journal}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); More than one of |pages= and |page= specified (help) Cite error: The named reference "Makan" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  26. ^ "The Arab Jewish Community Center". Retrieved 10/17/2010. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  27. ^ The Arab-Jewish Community Center
  28. ^ Ron Friedman, (18-12-2009), "Peres Center arrives alongside Ajami", The Jerusalem Post {{citation}}: Check date values in: |year= (help)CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link) CS1 maint: year (link)
  29. ^ Dilson, Jacob. "The Old Man and The Sea: A Locally Owned Middle Eastern Restaurant on Israel's Mediterranean Coastline in Jaffa, Tel Aviv". Dining Hall Digest. Retrieved 27/10/2010. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  30. ^ Malmad, Yael. "הזקן והדג: איפה אוכלים דגים טובים במחיר הוגן ביפו?". NRG. Retrieved 27/10/2010. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  31. ^ "Abu Hassan, the glorious Jaffa's hummus". The Hummus Blog. Retrieved 01/11/2010. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  32. ^ "City Guide Tel-Aviv". Retrieved 10/21/2010. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  33. ^ Geday, Fakhry. "Jaffa". This Week in Palestine. Retrieved 26/10/2010. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  34. ^ Farnsworth, Elizabeth. "Palestinian Refugees". PBS. Retrieved 10/21/2010. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  35. ^ Gershom, Gorenberg. "City of Oranges: An Intimate History of Arabs and Jews in Jaffa - Adam Lebor - Book Review". New York Times. Retrieved 21/10/2010. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  36. ^ Wu'adeh, Wadee' (17/05/2008). "Yaffa - Bride of the Sea". Al-Jazeera. Retrieved 26/10/2010. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help)
  37. ^ פרץ, ספיר (23/10/2000). "רוצים כבר להגיד תפאדל". Ynet. Retrieved 01/11/2010. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help)
  38. ^ Waked, Ali (08/28/2008). "Paralyzed Gaza girl celebrates birthday in Jaffa". Ynet. Retrieved 01/11/2010. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help)
  39. ^ Brown, Hannah (2-2-2010), "'Ajami' nominated for Oscar", The Jerusalem Post {{citation}}: Check date values in: |year= (help)CS1 maint: year (link)
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Ajami,_Jaffa&oldid=400191985"