El Manshiyyeh: How a lost Jaffa neighbourhood lives on through Palestinian theatre

Imagine if Brooklyn disappeared from New York; what stories would we want to hear eight decades later? This is the comparison that Amer Khalil, artistic director of the Palestinian National Theatre, draws with the Jaffa neighbourhood depicted in his theatre’s play, El Manshiyyeh.

To describe the El-Manshiyyeh neighbourhood’s fate as a disappearance is sadly no exaggeration.

Over the course of the late 19th and early 20th century, it was subject to land grabs by Zionist settlers and bombardment by militias that displaced so much of its population and destroyed it beyond recognition — save for a few landmarks, like the Hasan Bek mosque.

When the Jerusalem-based Palestinian National Theatre, also known as El-Hakawati, was drawing up its programme for 2025, Khalil spoke to Palestinian academic and playwright Samer al-Saber about whether he was working on a "dream project."

"He was working on a play about the El-Manshiyyeh neighbourhood," Khalil tells The New Arab. "I had heard of the neighbourhood, but like many Palestinians, I did not know the details of its history. We were all very excited about the project after reading the script," he adds. 

From erasure to survival

In El Manshiyyeh, running as part of the ongoing PalArt Festival of Palestinian arts and culture in London, the fragmented stories of some of this once bustling neighbourhood’s inhabitants are pieced back together, and their dreams for its future are brought to life on stage.

"The story of El-Manshiyyeh is heartbreaking… The neighbourhood was completely erased," Khalil says.

"Very little is left of it, but the most important thing left is Hasan Bek mosque, which remains as a symbol of the neighbourhood. When you go to Tel Aviv today, and you see the mosque, you naturally ask yourself: what is this mosque doing here?" he adds. 

"El-Manshiyyeh still exists in this play and on stage, so do the stories of all its people across the world. They give us hope because they continue to survive, as do the Hasan Bek mosque and the neighbourhood's story."

“We want the audience to take away that when we experience the most despair, we must count on ourselves and our roots to show us the way forward.”

Remembering El-Manshiyyeh

The production for this play is deliberately sparing, with the actors’ gestures partially filling the gaps where props or scenery would usually be used.

This is done for two main reasons, Khalil says.

"The first is that the playwright chose a minimalist style to allow the audience to imagine the past based on their memory," he says.

"The second is that this play is about people and their history, not about the spectacle. The play's history and events are full of action. The lack of distraction and the focus on storytelling help the audience engage with the play."

As time passes, and with so little materially left of El Manshiyyeh, that engagement is vital; performances of the play and the audiences who see it are together helping to preserve this neighbourhood’s memory to moving effect.

"At one performance, school kids who were descendants of Jaffa chanted for the people of El-Manshiyyeh for five minutes after the standing ovation," Khalil says of the reception of the play.

"Audiences in Jaffa told us that we were able to capture the experience of their grandparents, and to remind them of an important history of a place that you can’t see on the ground anymore," he shares.

"In other cities, people originally from Jaffa loved the performance because it tells their story. We asked one of the oldest surviving people of Jaffa whether he would change anything, and he said: nothing, it’s perfect."

Under threat

Established in 1984, the El Hakawati Theatre in occupied East Jerusalem has served as a nucleus for stage acting in Palestine, with co-founders and other members going on to establish theatres elsewhere in the country.

Like so many Palestinian theatres and cultural institutions, El Hakawati has faced sustained threats to its survival from the Israeli occupation.

At the end of last year, Israeli police stormed and shut down the theatre while Palestinian children had gathered for a musical performance.

The theatre remains under real existential threat, Khalil says, and in need of solidarity across borders.

"We cannot discuss the details of the current difficulties openly, but I can tell you this: we are at risk of closure," Khalil says.

"We have an appeal process that was scheduled with the Supreme Court. We are working with local courts and authorities to resolve these risks sooner than that, and any support for El-Hakawati Theatre would be appreciated."

El-Manshiyyeh runs until 26 September as part of the PalArt Festival, at the Pleasance Theatre in north London.

Shahla Omar is a freelance journalist based in London

Follow her on Instagram: @shahlatan