Abstract
Haifa developed from a small Arab town in the late Ottoman period into a Jewish-Arab urban centre in British Palestine. Today it is a Jewish city with a small Arab minority. In April 1948, following the Jewish conquest of the city, most of its Arab population fled. Israel's Zionist leadership took advantage of their flight and decided to demolish much of the old city, founded in 1761 by the Arab ruler of the Galilee, Daher el-Omar. In 2011, the municipality of the City of Haifa, as well as the majority of the city's Jewish population, all but ignored Haifa's 250th anniversary. The article critically discusses and contextualises the official, Zionist memory of the city's past and explores alternative Jewish attempts to commemorate Haifa's Arab heritage.