Israel plans to demolish Palestinian neighborhood in Haifa

The Israeli municipality plans to demolish the Palestinian neighborhood al-Mahatta in Haifa, reports The Electronic Intifada. 160 people from more than 30 families are facing eviction due to the plan, all of them carrying Israeli citizenship.The program to demolish the al-Mahatta is part of an national plan to develop the coastal areas in Israel.The neighborhood will be replaced by nightclubs, restaurants, an expansion of the railway and new housing units.In jewish Israeli neighbourhoods in Haifa the municipality encourages public participation in the planning of development projects. In the case of al-Mahatta however, Haifa’s mayor Yona Yahav has refused to work with the neighborhood committee and the residents have only been given vague answers regarding the plans for the neighborhood.“This is ethnic gentrification because it only pushes out poorer Arab citizens … This is colonialism turning the ruins of the Nakba into an economic pearl for the state to bring in profit”, Orwa Switat, a local urban planner and activist told The Electronic Intifada.