On the 71st anniversary of the Nakba, the fishermen of Jaffa resist Judaization and displacement

Mohamed Mohsen Wedd-Jaffa

The Israeli occupation authorities intend to start unloading the port of Jaffa from the Palestinians on the 71st anniversary of the Nakba, under the name of the development plan of the port, which is expected to last two and a half, according to estimates of the architects of the project and the municipality of Tel Aviv.

The project includes the reconstruction of the fishermen's warehouses and the harbor, with the establishment of a hotel with 46 rooms in the customs building overlooking the sea, which dates back to the Ottoman era, as well as the establishment of restaurants, cafes, bars and commercial and recreational complexes along the port.

The project threatens Palestinian fishermen in Jaffa and their families who live in displacement and displacement from the port after the Palestinians abandoned ancient Jaffa, which emptied Arabs and settled hundreds of Jewish families and sold their properties to French businessmen of Jewish origin.

Two hundred Palestinian fishermen are currently battling the port in front of the Tel Aviv municipality, which has embarked on a plan to empty the port of the Palestinians by initiating development and tourism projects that go beyond the Palestinian presence in old Jaffa.

Survival Battle
The hunter Bilal Da'eef, 53, refuses to bargain for his right to exist in the port, just like the rest of the fishermen. He stressed that confronting the battle of the port opposite the municipality - to preserve the living and the profession of parents and grandparents - carries a battle of steadfastness and survival, The emptying of the port from the Arabs means the loss of Jaffa and the uprooting of its Palestinian roots.

"The crisis of the families of the fishermen, who resist their livelihood and source of livelihood, to preserve the Arab identity and identity of the Palestinian city, which is facing Judaization, settlement and urban and commercial projects, goes beyond existence and history," says Da'eef, who lives in the port and has been hunting since he was 12 years old. Arab and Palestinian. "

"We inherit the port and catch generations behind generations, we will remain rooted in the port, despite the fines, taxes and deprivation of the most basic rights, displacement and displacement schemes that come under pretexts," he said. Development and construction ".

He said that the port symbolizes the identity and the Arabness of the city. The so-called development project is considered one of the chapters of the Nakba, which is still seen in Jaffa, stressing that the scheme of displacement of Palestinian fishermen will fail in the face of the unity and will of the Arab residents of the city who are treated by the municipality as strangers , And instead of them are replacing the Jews, especially the wealthy of them. "

Displacement
For his part, head of the Fishermen's Committee in the port of Jaffa, Ibrahim Soury, 37, said that the plan for the restoration and maintenance of the port "is part of a series of plans to displace the Arabs from the place. Warehouses ".

The municipality rejected the proposal of the municipality to evacuate the port and the warehouses that have become a symbol of the Arab presence off the sea until the completion of the renovations and development.

The Chairman of the Fishermen Committee that the municipality of Tel Aviv in recent years to drive the Palestinian population in the city to leave, through the restrictions on housing and in various walks of life, indicating that the scheme of expansion of the port was prepared 20 years ago and now the final stages are carried out by the displacement and unloading of Arabs, Renovation and construction of the site is intended for wealthy Jews. Previous experiences with the municipality have shown that dozens of Arab fishermen have been deported from the port without allowing them to return.

The development plan is in line with the aspiration of the Israeli establishment to sell the refugees' properties and properties. He pointed out that the port development project was based on the transfer of guardianship of property and property from the refugee property guard, the Israel Land Administration, to the Tel Aviv municipality, , And won by Israeli real estate companies, especially those who carry out Judaization projects settlement, tourism and commercial at the expense of the Arab presence.

He concluded: "In the port of Jaffa, the chapters and scenes of the Nakba continue. Those who left in 1948 are no longer, and at this stage of leaving the port they will not be allowed to return. The issue is not limited to development and construction. The Arab and Palestinian presence in Jaffa, The port is only a means to obliterate and Judaize the site and remove the Arab identity and the liquidation of property and property of refugees. "