A brainless monster for a boatless harbour

Israel Hadani, a fairly well known sculptor, designed a six meter high monster, a headless woman, legs-bound, a victim if there ever was a victim;  Andromeda.

Its shape reminds one of a rather unelegant doll of "Oscar" Award style, perhaps something to be placed on a car, not unlike the little sculpture on the hood of a Rolls Royce, but big, XXL.

The idea is to place poor brainless, eyeless and silenced Andromeda at the entrance to the Jaffa harbour close to the rock to which the mythical, beautiful princess Andromeda was chained as a tasty offer for a hungry sea monster, in order to save her city, Jaffa.

According to a Greek myth, Andromeda was a princess, the daughter of the king and queen of Jaffa. Andromeda was offered by her parents to a monstrous Medusa in order to save the city of Jaffa.

She was bound to a rock at the Jaffa harbour entrance, from which she was saved by Perseus, who killed the medusa.

The rock-formation at the harbour entrance is known until this very day as the "Andromeda Rock".

It's part of a very ancient, partially submerged, coral reef. The coral reef was important in the formation of Jaffa's natural harbour. It provided good protection for its ships, against storms and enemies. You really had to know exactly how to enter the tricky harbour in just the right way,  in between the unseen rockformations.

Part of the reef was turned, by the British, during the mandate period, into a breakwater protecting the harbour.

Our natural harbour is not deep enough for tall ships but still in intensive use by local fishermen, as they have been doing so for thousands of years.

At the end of the breakwater, a smallish cast iron beakon indicated the harbour entrance. Over the years, under the oxidizing influence of the saltwater waves, its iron rusted and it started to fall apart.

The 6 meter tall Hadani work is supposed to replace it. That's as tall as a two storey building. With bound legs more fitting the ambience of "the Dungeon" (a seedy S&M club in Old Jaffa) and lacking hands and a head as befitting an ultimate and totally defenceless victim.

I had the impression the Hadani sculpture had been completely cancelled as tasteless and unnecessary. But like a true Medusa, it raised its ugly torso once more and it seems they are going to pace the monster without any serious discourse on the need for it nor on its artistic value.

Frankly, there are enough headless monsters in the municipality. We don't really need another one at the harbour entrance.

The view of Jaffa from the sea is lovely and ancient. Why mess it up with yet another "wedding cake" monstrosity? Slowly but surely the fishermen are being kicked out. Our harbour is dying. Hadani's Andromeda is perhaps more than a symbol for the dying bride of the sea, Arus El Bahar, as Jaffa is known in Arabic..

Hate grafiti on Jaffa's "Sea Mosque"

Today the early morning prayer at Jaffa's "Sea Mosque" was different:

Hate grafiti had been sprayed on the ancient doors, threatening the lives of Jaffa's Palestinian citizens and comparing the Prophet to a pig.

Jaffa based Sheikh Ahmad Abou Agoua of the Northern Islamic Movement pointed out the connection between the official stand taken by some of Israel's high ranking politicians and this kind of acts.

A complaint has been filed at the police but one wonders what will happen with it.

Just one more hateful act against Jaffa's Palestinian population by some crazy hotheads, or is this part of a wider strategy?

Andromeda round nr.... i lost the count

The Jaffa's Andromeda Compound's developers want to add more and even higher buildings and are actively demanding building permits to do so, as was declared during the local building council meeting this Wednesday at the Tel Aviv municipality (also attended by Jaffa activists, reps from "Bimkom", lawyer Hisham Shbeita, the spokesperson of the Society for the Protection of Nature's southern city forum and yours truly).

Parts of Jaffa undergo a speedy gentrification process at the cost of the local, mostly Palestinian, population who are being forced out of their beloved city. They stand no chance against the combined forces of big money and the municipality, to whom such principles as affordable housing and distributive justice, community oriented planning and housing rights for all are foreign concepts.

Money buys orientalism and fake romance with, admittedly, a lovely view of Jaffa's ancient harbour and the Mediterranean sea. I have no problem with that, as long as it's not at the cost of others. If the rich and wealthy want to live in Disneyland-like kitsch, that's their own right. As long as the local community doesn't have to pay for their monstrosity.

The Andromeda closed compound was constructed on lands belonging to Jaffa's orthodox Christian Palestinian community. There are those who think the land changed hands in a rather illegal manner. It might be true, but then, it might not. There have been and perhaps still are police investigations into the matter, some of the Greek orthodox community leaders have left the country.

The land was supposed to serve the community's goals, i wonder if the money it brought in served the community or went into other pockets. Honestly, i have no way of knowing the details, but that's the story on the street.

What is certain, however, that the compound poses problems to the original Jaffa community on many levels.
As a closed compound (it was supposed to be open to the public, but in spite of court orders, it still is NOT) it's a stranger to Jaffa, an alien in our midst. The prices are such that it is available only to the very wealthy. Not to local people, who are banned from entering. "Security" they say.

From some of the compound's workers (unnamed for obvious reasons) i learned that one of Israel's crime families houses some of its "employees" in the compound, so i very much doubt the security claim. Or rather, i find it more than a little amusing.

The massive building mass has completely obliterated the view from Yefet street (EL Hilwe or Ajami street, as it was called in the past) towards the harbor and the sea.
The compound's high buildings, which were supposed to blend in with their surroundings, stick out as a large heavy mass above the lovely buildings of Ajami and Jaffa's harbour. Orientalist in style, they belong neither here nor there. Nor do they blend in with the French hospital compound and the church "next door".

The public buildings, for the good of the community, labelled "cultural" and "educational" have not been constructed up to this day. They were conditions of the original building permit. The developers now want to change "cultural" into "religious" and construct a synagogue. I really have nothing against a synagogue, and if they wish to construct one, sure, go ahead, but NOT instead of the cultural or educational building "for the good of the community", as the original permit demands.


Moreover, the Greek Orthodox school was supposed to have access, according to the original permit. This demand has not been met either.

When faced with these demands, the developers say they will answer them, but only after all the other construction has been completed. We know that trick. In the mean time the existing buildings have been put to use and now? They can always "not finish something" and therefore justify not doing anything for the community.

Well, now the developers have filed plans for even MORE construction.

Now the developers are demanding additional building rights for several more and even higher buildings.
The original design had a sort of "sloping" skyline, with a high point in the middle and lower buildings around it with rooftops on varying heights, sloping downwards to blend in with the skyline of the lower buildings around.
The new concept, if constructed, will completely mess up (there is no other word for it) the lovely Old Jaffa skyline from ALL directions.

Thus, we are faced with not only a serious social justice problem created by a closed compound, but also with a cultural one. Israel has a long and ugly history of destroying landmarks. If the new program will be authorised, the Jaffa skyline will be yet another victim to money destroying history and culture.

An even weirder part is that the developers now want to construct a commercial colonnade (on the part of the compound facing Yefet street) and present this as a service to the public as "building for the community". Right, they want to make lots of money on renting out commercial property as a service to the community. Allow me to laugh.

The representative of the inhabitants and flat owners at the compound did not agree to the added buildings construction permit request as they feel it will lower their quality of life as well as the value of their expensive property. They feel the original developers (the company switched hands over time) sold them lies in many ways, and i guess they truly did not get what they had hoped to get: peace and quiet in luxury surroundings nicely closed off from where they are actually located, slummy, poor Palestinian Jaffa.
Although luxurious, the compound is actually densely populated with many big building blocs grouped closely together separated by narrow food paths. Very much unlike the traditional building style of near by Ajami. Weirdly enough, in that sense (density) it is much more like the ugly social housing compounds of Jaffa Gimmel and Daled.


The illustrative image shows part of the Andromeda compound sticking out above what once was part of the "Maronite" neighbourhood

"Please Touch"

Yesterday evening i went with some Jaffa friends to "Not by bread alone", a performance at the "Please Touch (נא לגעת) theatre in the Jaffa harbour.
"Na Lagaat" (please touch) is a theatre group of 11 blind and deaf actors' assisted by translators in sign and touch language.
"Not by bread alone" is a play consisting of a series of sketches based on the actors' dreams, while bread is being made by them on stage.
Some of the actors, as they were born deaf and later became blind have difficulty expressing themselves through regular speech.
Seeing the play one wonders about limits of expression, and how to overcome those. In that sense the actors are amazing and very courageous.
Some scenes from of the play is visually beautiful, but as a whole, it's a problematic performance, suffering from too much nostalgia and an over-romanticised view of a world that perhaps never was. But then, perhaps it is not fair to judge the play using regular critical tools. However, i don't think the actors are the problem. The visually beautiful scenes are prolonged, thereby loosing some of the magic that was present at the first instance. It's the story, the play itself, that doesn't "work". And that is no fault of the actors, whom i admire.

The words spoken at the end by the company's (an NGO) manager were problematic and not necessary.

The derogatory manner in which he expressed himself about the Jaffa harbour, "which will be saved by the throngs of people coming from Tel Aviv, as right now it is a bunch of "jiffa", were insulting to us, all from Jaffa.
No doubt, it's wonderful if and when dance groups and theatres will use some of the unused warehouses in Jaffa's harbour. Yet Jaffa doesn't need "loads of Tel Avivians" to come and save it and "replace the Jiffa with kultura".

At the theatre there are 2 other special culinary experience options: a restaurant "Blackout", where food is served in complete darkness by blind waiters and a cafe, "Capiche" , where service is carried out by deaf waiters and the guests are given the experience to order trying to use sign language (instructions on the menu and the place mats) , which was fun to try and experience.
The food at "Blackout" is by Nir Zook, which is promising, but we haven't tried it as yet.
The theatre-restaurant complex itself is located in a beautifully renovated harbour warehouse.

Jaffa Harbour

Jaffa's harbour is ancient. Some say about 5000, others about 4000 years old. Archaeological digs in the area found stone implements, suggesting the ea very early human presence of fishermen.
The riffs that protect the harbour's entrance have been there, well, for ever. Thousands of years.
They protected the developing town and its people.
It used to be one of the main ports in the area.
In ancient times, when navigation tools weren't that developed yet, boats stayed in sight of the Mediterranean shoreline and its harbours were found more or less on a day's shipping distance. Jaffa was part of the eastern Mediterranean port-chain of Gaza, Ashqelon, Jaffa, Apolonia, Caesaria, Acre etc.
Control over a harbour meant control over the surrounding area as well as economic wealth. And Jaffa, with its natural springs and fertile lands around it, became wealthy.
The riffs and rocks made it dangerous to enter for any one who didn't know the entrance of the harbour very well. Jaffa is high, and therefore relatively easy to defend against a sea-faring enemy.
Jaffa became wealthy and the harbour was the center of activities: fishing and the orange trade.
Durng the Ottoman era the harbour was developed.
But already in the early 20th century the natural defence walls of the harbour started to present a problem: as ships grew taller and taller, they could no longer enter the harbour. They used to anchor outside and small boats would come alongside, to carry people and products to and from the shore.
Over time other harbours (Haifa and Ashdod) took its place, although it stayed active as an international and shipping harbour until the late 1950-ies.
Today it still is an active fishermen's harbour. In addition there are activities for Jaffa's children, such as the sea scouts, a sea canoeing business, and some small fish-restaurants.


Yet the municipality wants to turn it into a relaxation and commerce area, like the Tel Aviv harbour.
And that's where the difference lays, the Tel Aviv harbour, constructed in the 1930-ies, was no longer in use. A dead area of rotting empty warehouses and suspicious activities. There wasn't a single boat making use of it.
The Jaffa harbour is still active, used by Jaffa fishermen for whom it is the source of their families' income. By turning it into a fancy harbour for the wealthy, the fishermen will loose their income. Already it is impossible for the young generation t get a new fishing boat licence.

The renovation plans are ready and the development has started. I'm not against renovation and development, on condition it serves the local population first of all.
Archaeological digs stopped the development. That's usual in Jaffa; when you start developing, you find ancient remains and all development has to stop until the archaeology department has defined what needs to be salvaged and how and what may be destroyed.
Ancient harbour constructions were found, but they are being covered again. Apparently cafes and restaurants for the wealthy are more important than saving Jaffa's past and its people's present source of income.
There has been a public outcry, the findings should be kept open, so people can learn about the harbour's history. Supposedly the findings are being covered for safety sake. But exeperience has tought us, the municipal development plans will continue, money is stronger and Ron Huldai, the mayor, first of all serves big money, not the city's people.

More info

Jaffa Harbor Destruction

Sometime, between 5000 - 4000 years ago, people settled down in the Jaffa harbour area. A natural harbour, protected by rock formations against high storm waves and any enemy not acquainted with its tricky entrance. It was a logical choice, for people using stone and later bronze tools. There were sweet water sources, the soil was excellent for fruit trees and flowers. The sea, at that time, had plenty of fish.
The small village developed into an affluent city, by then known as Ya-pu, ruled by the Egyptians. The Ya-pu tax records were found in the Tel AlAmarna excavations and indicate the citizens were wealthy enough to pay a lot of tax. Then came the Philistines, the Hebrew kings for a few years, the Greek, the Romans, the Mameluks, the crusaders, the Turks, the French, the Brits and today, the state of Israel.
Jaffa is reported to be the oldest continually inhabited harbour city in the world.
The harbor was its major source of income for many centuries.
However, with the arrival of the tall steamships, the harbour started to loose much of its commercial attraction: the ships were too big to fit in, and the natural rock formations which had always proteced Jaffa, now were an obstacle. Newer, much deeper harbours were constructed elsewhere, and the Jaffa harbor became a fishermen & small boats harbour. In over the years 1947-1948 the majority of Jaffa's Palestinian population were forced to leave and the harbour became a shadow of its former self.
The city, which had been a cultural centre for the country's Palestinian population, started to loose much of its former splendour.
It kept many of its old characteristics, but "The Bride of the Sea" had become tired.

The municipality intends to develop the harbour area into a sort of pleasure & tourist area, with restaurants, clubs, a large parking place, a hotel etc. Some of the buildings will be restored, but the majority are being demolished.
I have used the old warehouses several times as a backdrop for photographs, never ever thinking that i would see their destruction.
Another piece of Palestinian Jaffa is being erased.
The municipality is proud of its developments in Jaffa. To me, the ongoing gentrification process simply means one thing: kicking out Jaffa's people, erasing its proud Palestinian past.

Jaffa Harbor, an ancient bride's untimely death

The Jaffa Tel Aviv municipality decided to take over responsibility for the Jaffa harbor. they just voted on the development program, and i suppose they want to have something to show for that city's upcoming birthday.

They, so they say, "want to turn it into a a succes-story, just like the Tel Aviv harbor". That statement is worth an investigation as well as quite a few questions.

The Jaffa harbor is an active fishermen's harbor, home to small ships and aflukas, which go out nightly to fish the Mediterranean.
There is a small fishmarket (suffering from intervention by municipal controllers who do all they can to close it down), a drydock for small ships, a number of fish restaurants, warehouses (some in terrible condition) and a graveyard for rusting ancient ships, slowly falling apart. And before i forget, there's also a sea school belonging to Jaffa's sea scouts, and a music school for oriental music, run by oud and violin player Yair Delal. Although the harbor is no longer what is once was, it is still central to Jaffa and full of life.

The Jaffa harbor is a natural harbor and has been in use for the last 4000 years (yeah four-thousand, that's not a mistake), making it one of the most ancient still active harbors in the world. Jaffa developed around it, the harbor was Jaffa's raison d'etre, so to say. And it has always been a close relationship, between the "bride of the Sea" (urs elbahar) and her harbor.

However, the natural rock formation (named after Andromeda, a Jaffa princes of mythical fame) protecting the ancient harbor, was also detriment in destoying Jaffa's wealth. When the ships became bigger, they could no longer enter the harbor. Instead they had to anchor outside and small boats from Jaffa would come alongside to load and unload. The Ashdod and Haifa harbors did not suffer from a similar problem and started to take over Jaffa harbor's function as the main entry port ot the area.
Yet the harbor has always been active as a fishermen's harbor, until this very day.

Tel Aviv's harbor was constructed during the first half of the 20th century, but never really played an important role. As a result it became delapidated and not in use by many, until a few years ago it was turned into a night life area, full of restaurents, bars and places to hang about. Trendy and expensive. Most restaurants belong to chains, having a "concept" and serving style rather than good food. Their owners make a lot of money from the people who wait in line to see and be seen.
There are those who love that sort of thing. North Tel Aviv, abroad, on the moon, (but much more boring) from my point of view. But there are those who like that sort of thing.


So now Jaffa harbor will be turned into something similar. Perhaps with more "authentic" styling, "aboulafia lite" perhaps. Jaffa for zfonbonim, yuppies interested in doing the ethnic thing for a few hours.
How many people from Jaffa will benefit from it? Hell knows: not many.
The cleaners, the cooks, the waitresses, will perhaps be from Jaffa, i guess. They will be asked not to speak Arabic, "the guests don't like that", they will be told.

And the fishermen? If they will be photogenic, i guess some of them will be able to stay. Picture perfect, so to speak.