“I want to come back to my home, to my house, to my village, to my land,” the 77-year-old said. Lifta, an abandoned former Palestinian village in a bucolic spot at the entrance to Jerusalem, is at the centre of a preservation fight over an Israeli plan to build villas there. It is only around 10 minutes from Jerusalem’s Old City yet hidden away, with striking views of surrounding hills. Its history is thought to date back to at least the 13th century BC, said Dafna Golan of the Save Lifta Coalition. It has been built over repeatedly throughout history, and 55 stone homes remain from the Palestinian village that existed before 1948.

Source: The Express Tribune November 16, 2017 10:30 UTC