The German Colony is still an important axis in Haifa, linking the sea with Mount Carmel via the recently restored Bahai Gardens. After many years of inertia, Haifa Municipality began restoration in the late 1990s during the euphoric days following the Oslo Accord. The project, funded by the Ministry of Tourism and fuelled by the newly developed Bahai Gardens, consisted mainly of restoring the public infrastructure in the hope of attracting private investors to continue restoration of the buildings. Following the Palestinian Intifadas and the escalation of terrorist attacks, the almost completed project was about to collapse, but little by little new bars and restaurants have been opened by local Arab investors. The former farm buildings and gardens have been transformed into leisure spaces – restaurants and cafes with open terraces suited to the Mediterranean climate (Fig. 6).
Today this area attracts Arab and Jewish Israelis from all over the country, but it is mainly a place of leisure for the Palestinians of Haifa and northern Israel, and a popular destination for middle-class and educated adults. In the context of the ongoing Palestinian-Israeli conflict, it offers an unthreatening ‘‘Arabness” attractive to Israeli Jews seeking everyday informal encounters with Palestinians. In a recent analysis of the German Colony for Palestinians, most approved were of its qualities as a place of leisure, safe, and providing the privacy that does not exist in other Arab cities (Jabareen, 2008). In contrast to the mostly residential Wadi Nisnas, where leisure establishments and night activities are not welcome, and to Arab settlements where the sale of alcohol is usually forbidden, the German Colony has been dubbed ‘‘Arab alcohol valley”.
(Rachel Kallus, Reconstructed urbanity: The rebirth of Palestinian urban life in Haifa, 2013)
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/257727493_Reconstructed_urbanity_The_rebirth_of_Palestinian_urban_life_in_Haifa
0 comentários:
Post a Comment