• gentrification
• history
• Israel
• Jaffa
• Palestine
• settler colonialism

Jaffa was one of the main cities of Palestine, and one of its political, economic and cultural centres, until 1948, when the state of Israel was created after the expulsion of a large majority of the Palestinian population. Jaffa was annexed to Israel after 95% of its original inhabitants were expelled or fled from the war.
For many years the city was left behind and it became a sort of slum, with an empoverished and disadvantaged population.
Nowadays it is often presented as an example of the possibility of peaceful coexistence between Arabs and Jews. Its proximity to Tel Aviv and to the sea have made it a very desirable asset in the real estate market, and urban renewal has gone side by side with increasing gentrification.
This thesis argues that the gentrification process cannot only be read through the lenses of neoliberalism, and that is instead part of the larger "Judaisation" process that has characterised Israel since its inception.