This staircase knew betters days, a symbol to Jaffa's glorious past. From the old pictures I see a beautifully built city, not less beautiful than other european middle-age cities, where they took great care to preserve and rennovate the old parts of the city.
The mayors of Tel-Aviv didn't do much to help Jaffa preserve its beauty. I always said that my people and govenments don't have a respect for history, they demolish and build new houses, new parks, new... new... new...
High-school of Tel Aviv which was a fine building, instead they built a commercial ugly high-rise by the money of a rich man. Unlike Tabitha school, where my brother studied, still exists, since the end of 19th century.
Arabs always build their houses as a part of the natural scenery. Therefor the villages are so picturesque. Jewish settlers flatten the land by bulldozer and only then build their houses.