Lifta - لفتا: We call upon you for your help and support-نريد مساعدتك يا لفتاوي للدفاع عن قريتك المغتصبة

Dear Liftawa,

We call upon you for your help and support.

Lifta, your ancestral village still stands defiantly. However, there is now a masterplan that has been approved that will change Lifta into exclusive private accommodation and a commercial centre with a different name - Mei Neptoach and with a different identity. All association to your cultural heritage and history with Lifta will be erased.

FAST (an architecture, planning and humanrights organization) are leading a project that will try to protect Lifta by offering and an alternative masterplan solution.

We feel that to be able to save Lifta we will need to preserve and proclaim the truth about Lifta with all people in Israel/Palestine. And to do that we need your help. We need your help because you - the Liftawa - and your 'truth' can actually be used to bring real justice and healing to this region.

Lifta is unique because she still stands after having witnessed a catastrophe; the 1948 Palestinian Nakba. Unlike the 500+ towns and villages that dissappeared during this catastrophe, Lifta was not fully razed to the ground and nearly all of her valley was never resettled . She still remains nearly the same as she did just after the Nakba.

Lifta has untold stories to tell. And the buildings and structures that still remain standing in her landscape also has the potential to reflect the very rich cultural heritage of the Liftawa community. But we believe that Lifta can also be more - she can be a symbol for peace.

Your bonds holding your memories with Lifta are very important and significant today. You bear witness and testimony to a catastrophe that affected the whole region. But at the same time, your bonds holding your memories of Lifta also tells a story of a time when muslims, jews and christians were once living harmoniously together in the same Liftawa community.

Lifta should be deemed invaluable and worthy of preserving her identity, culture and history for the sake of peace in the region. FAST are campaigning to uphold this belief. To do this we need to ask you the Liftawa to help us by allowing us to know about your life in Lifta, the history of Lifta from your truth, and your understanding of Lifta's community culture.

FAST are arranging workshops with the Lifta Association so we can meet you Liftawa and with your permission film record and document your memories and stories about Lifta. FAST will use what you have told us to reconstruct the memory of Lifta. And FAST will use your truths as the vital information needed to generate and produce the alternative masterplan whose objective is to show the importance to protecting Lifta for the region.

We will visit the different regions in the world where communities of Liftawa live today. We have fixed the dates to hold our first workshop in Chicago between 19th - 23rd May. In Chicago we can arrange for you to either visit the offices of the Lifta Association where we will spend half our time conducting the workshops or we can also come to you home wherever you are in your district in Chicago.

We then plan to continue the workshops in Amman - Jordan around August/September 2008, and then finally to Ramallah and Jerusalem during February/March 2009.

Please contact FAST ([email protected]) or the Lifta Association or ([email protected]) if you wish to participate in this cause, or concerning discussions about the intentions of the organizations and any of the above.

Peace be upon you.

Anil Korotane, FAST.
Saving Lifta Project - http://www.saving-memory.blogspot.com