12-11-02 Dispatch from Haifa - Downtown and Wadi ElNisnas

The old Christian/Moslem downtown area was largely destroyed in the 1948 war, and was later badly neglected for decades.  In recent years, the area has been redeveloped. This tiny community has been the cradle of disproportionate bursts of writing and creativity.

 The new artsy look of downtown Haifa.

 Mar Elias is the patron Saint of Haifa.

 Writings by Emil Habibi and others decorate the streets.

 

 Authentic local food, some made of ingredients collected in the local mountains, at Nadima on Mar Yuhana (Saint John) Street. 

 The red flags on the headquarter of the communist party building have seen better days.

 Dagon grain terminal and silos.

The train station and harbor facilities.  The harbor and neighbroring streets were built under the British Mandate on land reclaimed from the Mediterranean, part of accelerated industrial development of Haifa - an oil terminal at the end of a pipeline from Iraq.