Compensative memory making amidst conflict: Spatial memory and gentrification in Jaffa

Abstract

This article examines spatial memory making in Jaffa, a contested city shaped by both Palestinian and Jewish histories. Using the Yaffa Streets Project as a case study, it explores symbolic efforts by gentrifiers to address historical injustices through compensative memory making aimed at restoring erased Palestinian legacies. While the project resonated with ethically motivated Jewish residents grappling with their role in gentrification, it struggled to engage the local Palestinian community. Through a blend of ethnographic research and interviews, the findings reveal how memory initiatives in contested spaces often reproduce power asymmetries, fail to align with local epistemologies, and are perceived as external impositions. By situating Jaffa’s transformation within the context of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict and ongoing gentrification, the study highlights the challenges of heritage and memory activism in contested spaces, where such efforts often compete with the immediate survival needs of affected communities.