Haifa Before & After 1948. Narratives of a Mixed City, is a voyage that 14 scholars and experts undertake through the cultural, political and social history of Haifa before and after the 1948 War.
This volume, co-authored by Palestinians and Israelis - Arabs and Jews, mostly Israeli citizens, covers Haifa's architecture and its social and cultural life during the Mandate period, the Arab-Israeli competition in the oil and soap industries, the history of Arab-Jewish inter-communal relations and cohabitation, commemoration in the German Colony of Haifa, the story of two houses that represent the narrative of Palestinians in Haifa and remembrances displayed through personal accounts of the cold winter in 1950. In this remarkable project, Jews and Palestinians, write together the history and memory of the city of Haifa.
Rather than presenting incommensurable national narratives, they offer a fresh and inspiring alternative: each article is co-authored by Arabs and Jews, thus turning the art of research and writing into a bi-national practice. Addressing 1948 as a benchmark, is crucial particularly today in facilitating not only a new reading of the political story, but also offering political possibilities. Haifa Before & After 1948 is an inspirational book that deserves to be read by everyone who is interested in the history and memory of bi-national societies. (Yehouda Shenhav, Professor of Sociology, Tel Aviv University)