Palestinians return to ‘Bride of the Sea’

Under a banner reading 'From Diaspora to Homeland', activists boarded a boat commissioned by Zochrot. Many of Jaffa's refugees were sent into exile by sea in 1948. Zochrot spokesperson Niva Grunzweig described the recent event as 'a metaphor for return by coming back from the sea with a boat to the al-Ajami neighbourhood [in Jaffa]'. [Rich Wiles/Al Jazeera]

In 1948, tens of thousands of Jaffa's Palestinian residents were loaded onto boats and sent to Gaza, Egypt or Lebanon. Jaffa was the largest Palestinian city before the Nakba, home to more than 100,000 Palestinians. [Rich Wiles/Al Jazeera]

Abu Ahmed Barakeh, 82, has vivid and painful memories of the Zionist attacks on the city: 'Jaffa was attacked from all sides; we had no guns to defend ourselves. I saw many people killed. Finally I was put on a boat with my mother which sailed to Port Said in Egypt.' [Rich Wiles/Al Jazeera]

After spending a year in a refugee camp in Port Said, Abu Ahmed and his mother made their way to Gaza's Burj refugee camp, where they spent another year before finding a way across the border and back to Jaffa. Abu Ahmed's father had remained there during the fighting. 'When we came back, everything had changed,' Abu Ahmed said. 'All the people we knew had gone and everything was being run by Jews... Jaffa wasn't Jaffa any more.' [Rich Wiles/Al Jazeera]

Only 4,000 Palestinians managed to remain in Jaffa from a population of more than 100,000 before the attacks. Those who remained in the city were rounded up by Zionist militias and imprisoned in the al-Ajami ghetto, which was surrounded by barbed wire and guarded by militia members. [Rich Wiles/Al Jazeera]

Israeli art galleries today line the port area on the road to al-Ajami. Jaffa's Palestinians describe widespread policies of discrimination by the Israeli state, which they see as part of an ongoing process to rid the area of any Palestinian presence. [Rich Wiles/Al Jazeera]

Large swaths of the Palestinian al-Ajami neighbourhood have been demolished. Palestinian houses have been replaced by luxury developments - some of the most expensive real estate in the country. Many new developments incorporate traditional Arabic architectural features, although their residents are generally Jewish Israelis. [Rich Wiles/Al Jazeera]

Palestinian houses contrast sharply with the new Israeli developments. After Palestinians were forced from their houses during the Nakba, the houses were labelled 'absentee property' and appropriated by the state. Some were later leased back to remaining Palestinians by the state. Any refurbishment of these old houses requires state permission, which Palestinians say is not granted to them. [Rich Wiles/Al Jazeera]

Following interviews with refugees from the al-Manshiyeh neighbourhood, Palestinian and Israeli artists created 'Echoing Jaffa' - an audio recreation of the events of 1948 that leads listeners on a tour through the neighbourhood. 'Israelis need to know the real story and reveal what has been hidden,' said Israeli David Oppenheim, who downloaded the audio piece to join the 'Echoing Jaffa' walking tour. 'The realisation of the right of return must be part of building an alternative and a solution.' [Rich Wiles/Al Jazeera]

Participants in the 'Echoing Jaffa' tour were given maps to follow as they listened to the recreation of the attacks on the area in 1948. The tour led them to a large park in al-Manshiyeh, which was built over the ruins of a Palestinian neighbourhood. In the centre of the park stands an Israeli memorial inscribed with a dedication in Hebrew to the men 'who defended Tel Aviv and conquered Jaffa'. [Rich Wiles/Al Jazeera]

'Echoing Jaffa' tour participants were eventually led to beach-side parks that were originally part of Palestinian Jaffa. The large grass mounds where residents enjoy picnics were built over the rubble of Palestinian houses. [Rich Wiles/Al Jazeera]

Palestinians still refer to Jaffa as the 'Bride of the Sea', even as its Palestinian identity continues to be swallowed up, house by house, within the Israeli expansion and development of Tel Aviv-Yafo. [Rich Wiles/Al Jazeera]

Other Nakba-related projects held in Jaffa included the use of traditional Palestinian houses, occupied today by Israeli Jews, for the exhibition of Palestinian artworks. Artist Anisa Ashkar exhibited her 'Hands Weaving Fire' work in a house that was built by Issa Safady in the 1930s. After the Nakba, the property was appropriated by the Israeli Custodian of Absentee Property. [Rich Wiles/Al Jazeera]

Manar Zuabi's 'Elevator Speech' video installation was projected inside the al-Gindy family house. The al-Gindy family was displaced during the Nakba and the house was appropriated by the Israeli Custodian of Absentee Property, which entrusted it to the Ministry of Defence. [Rich Wiles/Al Jazeera]