Tuesday 7 October 2014 Lifta, forced to leave Palestinian community

Blaine and I explored a village named Lifta just off Highway #l .  It was a Palestinian village before the War of 1948.  Israelis say the Palestinians left.  Palestinians say they were driven out. Lifta originally had 450 homes or about 2500 residents.  While we were trying to find Lifta we drove past the construction site of a bridge on Highway #1.  When it is finished it will span Highway #1 (the road from Jerusalem to Tel Aviv).

We also stumbled on a 9/11 Memorial.  Names of those who died are on the metal tablets at the plaza.

Structure at the center of the memorial

We parked at the bottom of the hillside and hiked to the remains of Lifta.  There were plans by Israeli developers for high-rise apartments and a shopping mall but there are organizations trying to stop the development. Most Lifta  refugees went to the West Bank and still consider it their property.

I'm not sure what the story of this old truck is along the hillside.  Obviously the terrain was too rugged.

The homes were constructed well and this area was considered a very nice neighborhood.

The arches, domes, limestone, and size of homes show what a nice village it was.
 

The spring near the top of Lifta is used for swimming by Jewish youth.

This week is Feast of the Tabernacles, or Sukkot.  After we left Lifta, we went through Jewish neighborhoods that had built sukkahs on their patios.

A Sukkah roof is made of palm frons because it needs to be open to the elements so they can see the sky.

At Mahane Yehuda these people celebrated the holiday by dancing on the roof of a car.

A tent was set up across the street from the shouk where people could buy the 4 items necessary for the holiday: a citron ( a lemon like citrus), 3 myrtle twigs, 2 willow twigs, and l palm frond.  They wave these items called the lulav & etrog in the sukkah in all four cardinal directions.

Citrons

Inspecting palm fronds

After the sukkah is built they decorate it similar to our Christmas decorations.

 I took this picture in the Shouk to show a typical religious Jewish family.  Two toddlers in the stroller and the mom with a front pack with a baby.  They have a lot of children.