Ein Hod: The ethnically cleansed Palestinian village that became an Israeli artists' colony

Ein Hod: The ethnically cleansed Palestinian village that became an Israeli artists' colony Submitted by Samah Watad on Tue, 05/12/2026 - 15:40 Displaced Palestinians are now living near galleries and museums built inside the homes they lost in 1948 A sign indicates the direction of the northern Israeli village of Ein Hod, a haven for artists, which was originally an Arab village before the mass expulsion of Palestinians in the 1948 Nakba (Ahed Izhiman/AFP) Off The stone village of Ein Hod sits on the slopes of Mount Carmel overlooking the Mediterranean Sea. Narrow winding roads, old cactus fences and galleries are scattered between preserved Palestinian homes. When Yara Mahajneh, an independent Palestinian artist, arrived there one evening carrying equipment for an exhibition, she found gates, guards and restricted entry surrounding the quiet artists' village. "What kind of protection does a peaceful, liberal artists' village need?" she recalled asking. Mahajneh was attending her graduate exhibition at the Janco Dada Museum in Ein Hod, a former Palestinian village known as Ein Hawd that was later transformed into an Israeli artists' colony. "During my four years studying art at the University of Haifa, no one taught us the history of Ein Hawd," Mahajneh said. "We studied European and Israeli art, but not Palestinian art or the story of the village itself". 'They are using one of the highest forms of human expression and documentation on the remains of other people' - Mustafa Kabha, Palestinian historian Before 1948, Palestinian families from the Abu al-Hija clan lived there. Palestinian historian and philologist Mustafa Kabha says the family's local...

Original source: Middle East Eye