The Last Mosque in Tel Aviv, and Other Stories of Disjuncture

Click here to view record
Main author: Webster-Kogen, Ilana
Format: Journal Article           
Online access: Click here to view record


id eprints-35483
recordtype eprints
institution SOAS, University of London
collection SOAS Research Online
language English
language_search English
description Ruins serve as a poignant reminder of loss and destruction. Yet, ruins are not always physical, and they are not always best understood through visual language—the sense memory of loss extends for displaced people far beyond crumbling monuments. Exploring the sonic element of loss and displacement is key to understanding the way people relate to the spaces they have to leave. This article explores the particular disjuncture of staging and commemorating Arabness in Tel Aviv, the “Hebrew City.” The disjuncture of being Arab in Tel Aviv is apparent to any visitor who walks down the beach promenade, and this article examines the main sites of Arab contestation on the border with Jaffa. Most apparent to a visitor is the Hassan Bek Mosque, the most visible Islamic symbol in Tel Aviv; I describe the process of gaining admission as a non-Muslim, and of discussing the painful and indelible memory of 1948 with worshipers. Delving deeper into the affective staging of ruin, I trace Umm Kulthum’s famous concert in Jaffa (officially Palestine at the time), and examine the way her imprint has moved across the troubled urban border of Tel Aviv-Jaffa. A ruins-based analysis of the urban sites of disjuncture in Tel Aviv, therefore, offers a glimpse into underground sonic subcultures that hide in plain sight.
format Journal Article
author Webster-Kogen, Ilana
author_facet Webster-Kogen, Ilana
authorStr Webster-Kogen, Ilana
author_letter Webster-Kogen, Ilana
title The Last Mosque in Tel Aviv, and Other Stories of Disjuncture
publisher MDPI
publishDate 2021
url https://eprints.soas.ac.uk/35483/

Similar items