ABSTRACT
In May 2007, I returned to Ganey Aviv in order to update the data for the writing of this book. Revisiting the place meant examining whether any changes had occurred from a demographic, spatial or political point of view. I contacted some of the property agents in Ganey Aviv and asked them about any Arab families that had moved into the neighborhood. The answer was clear and direct: I was informed that no Arabs had moved into the neighborhood, and that the special committee that controls it is still in operation. One of the passers-by, a Russian immigrant in his mid-twenties, told me that Ganey Aviv “is closed to Arabs, even though there are [Arabs] around.” Yet in my next visit, I met Amir, an Arab inhabitant of the city, who had come to Ganey Aviv’s shopping mall. According to Amir, some Arab families had managed to rent flats, which they had done with the mediation of some property agents. Moreover, Amir mentioned that the prices of the flats were lower now than a few years ago, since Russian families who could leave for better places had done so. In addition, new houses in the informal neighborhood of Pardes Shanir (see Figure 6.1), built in the past two years, are in close proximity to the Ganey Aviv housing blocks.
