Summary
Palestinian citizen in Israel and founder of Bil’aaks Alternative Tours (Bil’aaks translates roughly to “on the contrary”), whose August 2019 tour of Ein Hod and the new Ayn Hawd for an Eyewitness Palestine delegation anchors his analysis of Israeli tourism in settler colonialism (Invited to Witness — Solidarity Tourism across Occupied Palestine, PDF p.165-166). Named in the Acknowledgments among those whose words animate whole chapters — Bilal Dirbas on settler colonialism and Haifa (PDF p.10-11).
Details
- Dirbas began his tour: “Today, we’ll be talking about settler colonialism, the same history as you have back home with Native Americans” — reminding tourists what they witness is not an anomaly, nor far from home (PDF p.165).
- Before entering Ein Hod he detailed the occupation of ‘Ayn Hawd in 1948: 650 villagers in 1945 and 800 in 1948, forced out by the Israeli army and navy on July 15, 1948 after holding through two attacks; the new village nearby was unrecognized until 1994 (PDF p.166).
- “The village mosque is now used as a bar and restaurant. The minaret is gone.” Of the artist colony’s residents: “They are the bohemian, radical left Israelis, but they are Zionists and their mindset is settler colonial” (PDF p.166).
- On Marcel Janco, Dada cofounder and Ein Hod cofounder: “He brought tourism to this village and gave legitimacy to the new project of Zionism” (PDF p.166).
- His tour ended in the new ‘Ayn Hawd, describing the village’s struggle for recognition, not fully realized until 2006, its dangerous road and the precarious deeds of its three hundred villagers (PDF p.169-170).
Related pages
Invited to Witness — Solidarity Tourism across Occupied Palestine, Ayn Hawd, Haifa, Settler Colonialism, Solidarity Tourism