Lifta

This guide to Lifta in Jerusalem traces what happened to a village of some two thousand five hundred people, with olive presses, a clinic, and coffeehouses, after a coffeehouse attack on December 28, 1947 killed seven men gathered for their evening coffee. It follows the raids and pressure that followed, and how within weeks one of the largest Arab villages near Jerusalem emptied out. Along the way you'll hear about the mukhtar's burned house and the trucks that carried families toward East Jerusalem. Look for the spring-fed pool below the ruins, still used by Jerusalemites on hot days.