Lifta

Lifta
لفتا
Lefta
Depopulated homes of the village of Lifta
Depopulated homes of the village of Lifta
Etymology: Lifta, personal name[1]
1870s map
1940s map
modern map
1940s with modern overlay map
A series of historical maps of the area around Lifta (click the buttons)
Lifta is located in Mandatory Palestine
Lifta
Lifta
Location within Mandatory Palestine
Coordinates: 31°47′43″N 35°11′47″E / 31.79528°N 35.19639°E / 31.79528; 35.19639
Palestine grid168/133
Geopolitical entityMandatory Palestine
SubdistrictJerusalem
Date of depopulationJanuary 1948[2]
Repopulated dates1948–2017 by Jews
Area
 • Total8,743 dunams (8.743 km2 or 3.376 sq mi)
Population
 (1948[3])
 • Total2,958
Cause(s) of depopulationMilitary assault by Zionist paramilitary forces
Current LocalitiesWestern suburb of Jerusalem
Lifta in relation to Jerusalem in the 1870s
Lifta spring

Lifta (Arabic: لفتا; Hebrew: ליפתא) was a Palestinian village on the outskirts of Jerusalem. The village's Palestinian Arab inhabitants were expelled by Zionist paramilitary forces during the 1948 Palestine war.

During the Ottoman period, the village was recorded to have a population of 400 Arabs, all Muslim households. In 1834, a battle took place in the village during the Palestinian Peasants' Revolt. A British 1922 census registered Lifta's population at 1,451, all Muslims.[4]

Prior to 1948, the village had orchards, several olive presses, a winepress, in addition to a modern clinic, two coffeehouses, two carpentry shops, barbershops, a butcher, and a mosque.[5][6] In the 1945 statistics the population of Lifta was 2,250; 2,230 Muslims and 20 Christians.[7] In addition, a small number of Jews resided in the village, and one former Jewish inhabitant described the relationship her family and the Palestinian Arab majority as 'excellent'.[6]

During the 1948 Palestine war, a massacre occurred on 28 December 1947, when a Jewish militia launched a machine-gun and grenade assault on a cafe in Lifa. The mukhtar's home was also incinerated by the Zionist forces and 20 buildings were blown up as the village was put under siege.[8] The village's Palestinian Arab inhabitants were expelled, and the abandoned village was later repopulated by Jewish immigrants until 1970s. In July 2017, Israel declared Lifta (called Mei Neftoach) as a national nature reserve.[9] It has been referred to as the "Palestinian Pompeii".[10]

  1. ^ Palmer, 1881, p. 322
  2. ^ Morris, 2004, p. xx, village #363
  3. ^ Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics Archived 12 February 2012 at the Wayback Machine also gives village area
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference Census1922 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference Golan was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Glinski was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference 1945p25 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference Levy21 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference Naturereserve2017 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ Palestinian ‘Pompeii’ in Jerusalem could face demolition