User:Ka Yaffa/Sandbox

Ajami is a neighborhood in Tel Aviv-Jaffa, Israel,  situated south of Old Jaffa and north of the Jabaliyya neighborhood on theMediterranean Sea.

History
Ajami was founded at the end of the 19th century by wealthy Maronite Arabs, the neighborhood's streets were laid parallel to the coast, and a church and monastery of St. Antony were built. The neighborhood’s houses were built from limestone surrounded by large courtyards; the construction style reflected the economic ability of its initial residents. The neighborhood is named after Ibrahim al-Ajami, one of prophet Muhammad's companions; according to a local tradition, he was buried in the south of the neighborhood. A mosque on the site is called the al-Ajami.

The Ajami neighborhood has a particularly significant role in the history of Jaffa and the Nakba, also known as the Israeli War of Independence. Following the decision by the British Government to end the British Mandate for Palestine, violence erupted between the Jewish paramilitary groups (the Haganahand the Irgun)  and the Palestinian irregulars. The city of Jaffa witnessed some of the most violent of these encounters between Palestinians and Jews and on May 13, 1948, the day before the announcement of the Israeli state, Jaffa surrendered to the Jewish forces and consequentially, all the Palestinian residents of Jaffa and its neighboring towns were forced into the Ajami neighborhood and became subject to strict martial law. It is estimated the by the end of the war over 90% of Jaffa's Palestinian citizens were expelled or fled to seek temporary refuge from the fighting; approximately 4,000 Palestinians remained in Jaffa, most of which were forced by Israeli officials to be concentrated in the Ajami neighborhood. For the next year, the Ajami neighborhood was “surrounded with a barbed wire fence and checkpoints inspected all those entering or leaving the area. Residents were only permitted to leave the neighborhood after receiving a permit from the [Israeli] military commander.”

Ajami is now known as one of the most neglected and poorest parts of Jaffa, and is often been referred to as a slum or 'ghetto'. Ajami is also reported to be the lowest-income neighborhood of all of Tel-Aviv and Jaffa's 60 neighborhoods. The neighborhood faces harsh socio-economic conditions and political problems that have shown expression in the form of harsh poverty, a severe housing crisis, the spread of drug-use and clashes between the Palestinian residents and new Jewish right-wing former West Bank settler communities moving into the neighborhood.

Socio-Economic and political condition
Ajami is plagued by a severe housing crisis that is primarily affecting the Palestinian residents of the neighborhood. This crisis takes three different yet related forms: gentrification, house demolitions and a 'Jewish-only' housing project. Many of Ajami's Palestinian residents feel that they have come to suffer under Tel Aviv-Yafo's Municipality's plans to 'develop' the neighborhood. The 'development' of Jaffa has resulted "in a growing number of Arab residents leaving the area as real estate prices have soared." Simultaneously, a large number of prosperous Jewish residents have moved into the neighborhood making it increasingly gentrified. In addition, there are approximately 497 eviction and demolition orders by the Amidar, Israel's government-operated public housing company, threatening the Ajami residents and the residents of the neighboring Jabaliyya area in central Jaffa. While Ajami residents claim that this is a result of discriminatory policies which date back to the establishment of the Israeli state, the Amidar company asserts that they are illegal squatters. The housing crisis has also taken on another more blatant political face as a number of religious-right wing Jewish groups have decided to move to Al-Ajami with an alleged 'Judaization' agenda. One outcome of this phenomenon has been the much-debated B'emuna housing project which restricts the sale of apartments to religious-Zionist Jews. Despite local protests and a court case brought against the B'emuna company, in "February 2010, the Tel Aviv District Court dismissed a stop work petition presented by 27 Ajami residents, which argued that the stipulation that housing in the project be available only to religious Jews discriminated against the neighborhood’s Arab residents."

The Ajami Mosque
The Ajami Mosque was established by Haj Yousef-Al-Manawi in 1895 on the shrine of Sheikh Ibrahim-Al-Ajami. It is located on the northern part of the Ajami neighborhood and neighbours the Hassan Arafeh public school. Up untill the late 1960's, the residents of Jaffa were forbidden from holding their daily prayers in any other mosque aside from the Ajami Mosque. Both the mosque and the school was previously owned by the Islamic Waqf, untill the Israeli authorities annulled their status as Waqf property and confiscated them both, along with a majority of the Waqf land in Israel which was declared to fall under Israel'sAbsentee's Property Law.

The Old Man and the Sea
"The Old Man and the Sea" is a popular locally owned Arab seafood restaurant in the southern part of Ajami. This seaside restaurant, known for its impressive array of appetizers, meat dishes and a wide variety of seafood dishes, has become a landmark of not only the neighborhood but of the city as it continues to gain popularity amongst Israelis and tourists alike.

Arab-Jewish Community Center
Ajami is the location of the Jaffa (AJCC), the only municipally-founded community center in Tel Aviv-Jaffa catering at once to Jewish, Christian, and Muslim populations in the city. The Center was established in 1993, bringing together conflicting populations and educating towards reconciliation, recognition and cooperation. Both facilitated and unmediated encounters between members of Jaffa’s various ethnic and age groups transpire in the Center, including children from Jewish and Arab kindergartens, elementary and high school students, and adults.

The Peres Center for Peace
The Peres Center for Peace, located in the southern tip of Ajami, was opened in December 2009 after 10 year of planning and construction. The building (2,500 sq.m.), a distinctive architectural landmark on the Jaffa coast, was designed by renowned Italian architect Massimiliano Fuksas.

Fakhry Geday
Mr. Fakhry Geday was born in the Ajami neighborhood in 1926 and has come to be one Jaffa's most notable and respected citizens. Mr. Geday is a pharmacist and the owner of the Al-Kamal Pharmacy, which holds the same name and location from the time of the British Mandate in Palestine. The Al-Kamal Pharmacy is the only remaining Arab-owned pharmacy in Jaffa and considered by many of the Ajami residents as a landmark of the city. Mr. Geday's contribution to the Ajami neighborhood and the city of Jaffa go far beyond his pharmacy as he is also considered a main local source for historical reference on anything related to the history of Al-Ajami and Jaffa. Mr. Geday is known to be a well-versed individual and a proud Palestinian; he is often interviewed with regards to his own experiences and knowledge about the Nakba as he lived through it.

Film
The 2009 Israeli film Ajami directed by Scandar Copti and Yaron Shani was nominated as a foreign language film for the 2010 Oscars. Many characters in the film were played by non-professional actors who live in Ajami.