Andrew Herscher – Assistant Professor of Architecture - Univ. of Michigan
Zvi [Zvi Efrat – Head of Architectural Dept. - Bezalel Academy of Arts - Jerusalem] is also an architectural historian. He has presented ‘Construction of Forgetfulness’ through the appropriation of image. The State of Israel is an architectural construction, totally designed and built according to a plan. The Arieh (not Ariel) Sharon Plan was to disperse the Arab population as much as possible and to introduce the Jewish population from Europe . This was done in the form of different building projects – kibbutz, moshav, towns and larger housing schemes – to erase whatever was there perceptually.
Lifta is not easy to ignore. It is a strong image within Israeli consciousness, on the outskirts of Jerusalem . But for other parts of the country, forests for Jewish commemoration were planted – as on lands of Deir Yassin. New immigrant camps replaced the destroyed Arab villages or towns. There was only one place – by Zvi Hecker – to return Palestinian refugees to Rafah, a few km from Liftah, and that never came to fruition.
Ein Hud (afterwards the artists’ village of Ein Hod ) was totally appropriated by Israelis – and became ‘Bohemian 70s’ appropriated houses, incorporating indigenous Arab architecture.
Moshe Safdie’ aggressive multi-structure buildings has Muslim-appropriated images which become absurd pastiches. Israeli architecture does try to erase, but the more it does this, the more the repressed memory return.
Efrat feels that his responsibility is to cause students to consider the history and expose it. Today these issues can be discussed.
There are many parallels between Kosovo and Israel . Political violence involves destruction of architecture. Destruction can be in the context of war; but there is also violent destruction in peace time. The first destroys world order; the second leaves world order undisturbed. But post-war reconstruction can be very powerful in destroying heritage. Islamic influences in Kosovo were destroyed in 1940s and 1950s (Pristina). Destruction and construction have been twin components of the building of the state. 1993 saw the destruction of heritage in Serbia . Architecture was used to eradicate ethnic culture. Cultural monuments were particularly targeted and hundreds of mosques were destroyed. There was also a range of forced violence in the form of evictions and mass murder 1999 – 2001.
Today reconstruction caused further eradication of heritage by being dependent on market values. After the war more cultural buildings were destroyed than during the war. Capitalism in post-conflict time can intensify the violent destruction – and ‘reconstruction’ is a very ambivalent term. In itself ‘construction’ can deny the finality of destruction, but reconstruction also continues the notion of future destruction.
Question: Zvi: Destruction is not meant to be seen. In regard to Liftah – there are also problems in trying to preserve it. Will it be turned into something better?
AH - The total elimination of Liftah today would make the whole original destruction of it even stronger.
In regard to the destruction of Palestinian villages and town, this has all been sanitised by the outside world. But Liftah as it remains will be a reminder. Perhaps one day it will be reinhabited by survivors or descendants of the original residents.