The lost neighbourhood

I gradually noticed that virtually all instances cited by Elie Azulay to lend support to his laments over ‘the problem’ of ‘the Arab onslaught’ in Natzerat Illit were properties that had been sold or let to Palestinians in the mixed compounds. Al-Kūrūm, the exclusively Palestinian neighbourhood (see chapter 2) remained conspicuously absent from his discourse of ‘the problem'.

In practical terms, his silence over al-Kūrūm is understandable. Deals over land and properties in al-Kūrūm were cut exclusively between Palestinians, who seldom use the services of estate agents. The area was thus outside Elie's – or any other estate agent's – domain of activity and information.

Al-Kūrūm and the rest of the north-western corner of Natzerat Illit, with over 250 private homes of Palestinians, still represents approximately one-third of the Palestinian residency in Natzerat Illit. Moreover, since most houses in al-Kūrūm are built on land privately owned by Palestinians, most residents have no intentions whatsoever of moving out – this in marked contrast to Palestinian residents of mixed residential areas ‘inside’ Natzerat Illit. If anybody needed a clear-cut case of Elie's worst scenario materialized, there was al-Kūrūm: a recent assertion of Palestinian presence within a predominantly Israeli town and a perfect example of Palestinian momentum acquired at the expense of Israeli control.

Elie's tendency to overlook al-Kūrūm was not an exception. The most impassioned of accounts given by other Israeli residents of the existential dangers associated with the Palestinian presence in Natzerat Illit made no reference to the exclusively Palestinian neighbourhood.