Lifta

Lifta was a Palestinian village situated on the steep slope of a hill, facing north and northwest, overlooking Wadi Salman. The main road connecting Jerusalem and Jaffa ran just southwest of the village. Lifta was also connected by dirt paths to several neighboring villages. It is believed that Lifta was established on the site of “Mei Neftoah”, referenced in the Book of Joshua (15:9; 18:15), a water spring near Jerusalem, although biblical scholars have disagreed on the precise identification. The site was known as Mei Neftoah during the Roman period and as Nefto in the Byzantine era. Little is known about the village during the early Islamic period, but it was referred to as Clepsta during the Crusader era.

In 1596, Lifta was recorded as part of the Jerusalem subdistrict (Nahiya of Jerusalem) in the Ottoman tax registers, with a population of 396. Villagers paid taxes on wheat, barley, olives, fruits, vineyards, and other agricultural yields.

In 1834, Lifta was the site of a battle between the Egyptian army led by Ibrahim Pasha and local rebels under the prominent local leader Sheikh Qasim al-Ahmad. Although Sheikh Qasim was defeated, his family remained influential for years, ruling the area south of Nablus from their fortified villages of Deir Istiya and Beit Wazan, approximately 40 km north of Lifta.

By the late 19th century, Lifta stood on the side of a steep hill, with a spring and rock-cut tombs to the south. The village’s homes were mostly built of stone and followed the contour of the hill in a circular formation. Its old alleys were narrow and winding. Lifta expanded significantly during the British Mandate period, spreading eastward up the slopes of Mount Khallat al-Tarha and connecting with the Romema neighborhood in northwest Jerusalem. The village also expanded southwestward along the road to Jaffa.

The majority of Lifta’s inhabitants were Muslim. By the mid-1940s, around 20 of its 2,550 residents were Christian. At the center of the village stood a mosque, the shrine of Sheikh Badr (a local saint), and a few shops. The village had an elementary school for boys and, by 1945, another for girls, along with two cafés and a social club. Economically and socially, Lifta functioned as a suburb of Jerusalem, with strong ties to the city. Residents sold their produce in Jerusalem’s markets and benefited from the city’s services.

Drinking water was sourced from a spring in Wadi al-Shami. Lifta’s lands were cultivated with grains, vegetables, and fruit trees, particularly olive and grape vines. Olive trees alone covered 1,044 dunums. Rainfed agriculture was concentrated in Wadi al-Shami, especially in the southwestern valleys and slopes. In 1944–1945, a total of 3,248 dunums were planted with grains.

Occupation and Depopulation

The Zionist paramilitary organization Haganah initiated hostilities in Lifta and the nearby Jerusalem neighborhoods of Romema and Sheikh Badr during the early stages of the 1948 war. According to the Haganah History, “securing the western exit of the city [Jerusalem] required the evacuation of Arabs from Romema and Sheikh Badr. Soon after, the Arabs of Lifta also left.”

Further details are provided by historian Benny Morris, who notes that in December 1947, Haganah forces opened fire on a Palestinian man who owned a gas station in Romema, suspecting him of passing information to Arab forces about Jewish convoys heading to Tel Aviv. The man was killed. The following day, a hand grenade was thrown at a Jewish bus. Palestinian historian ‘Arif al-‘Arif adds that on December 28, a Lifta café was attacked with Sten guns, resulting in six deaths and seven injuries. The New York Times reported five dead, stating that members of the Stern Gang had stopped a bus outside the café, opened fire with machine guns, and threw grenades.

According to al-‘Arif, most residents of Lifta left following this attack, with the remaining inhabitants departing soon after. Subsequent operations by the Haganah, Irgun, and Stern Gang targeted both Romema and Lifta. On January 11, 1948, Haganah members blew up the house of the Mukhtar of Sheikh Badr. Two days later, they launched a second assault, destroying 20 homes and damaging most houses in the eastern part of Lifta. Morris states that these demolitions aimed to force the Palestinian residents to flee—and were largely successful.

On February 7, 1948, David Ben-Gurion, head of the Jewish Agency (later Israel’s first Prime Minister), expressed satisfaction with the results during a Mapai Party leadership meeting. He said:

“If you enter Jerusalem via Lifta-Romema, or through Mahaneh Yehuda, King George Street, or Mea She’arim—you will not see a single stranger [i.e., Arab]. The entire area is 100% Jewish.”

The Village Today

Most of the remaining houses in Lifta are abandoned, though a few have been restored and inhabited by Jewish families. The pool built around the spring in Wadi al-Shami lies in ruins. The village mosque and social club can still be seen north of the spring. A cemetery covered with trees and wild vegetation lies to the west of the mosque. The village’s fig and almond grove lies in a valley near a stream fed by the spring.

Three Jewish families currently reside in restored houses, while the ruins of other homes are scattered across the site. In 1987, the Israeli Nature and Parks Authority drafted a plan to restore the abandoned village and convert it into an open-air natural history center “to strengthen Jewish roots in the site.” The project was to be funded by donations and estimated to cost $10 million.

Israeli Settlements on Village Lands

The settlements of Mei Neftoah (168133) and Giv’at Shaul (168133) were established on Lifta’s lands. These areas are now considered suburbs of Jerusalem.