I popped into Harish for a visit on July 3 and left with a strange feeling about the place. This new city, which was planned 20 years ago as an Israeli success story, quickly became a resounding urban failure. It looks absolutely dismal, and my visit left me with the impression that this is what the “Tower and Stockade” settlements must have looked like before the establishment of the state of Israel. 

In those days, whenever the leadership of the Yishuv — the Jewish community in Mandatory Palestine — wanted to establish “facts on the ground,” they would send people out in the middle of the night to grab a piece of land. Within hours they would put up a few walls, so that when Arab residents living nearby woke up the next morning, they would discover that another Jewish “settlement” had been established while they were asleep.

This was how the new settlers were able to map out and expand the boundaries of Jewish settlement throughout the country day after day. It was all based on the temporary structures that they put up in the middle of the night. Many years have passed since then, the state of Israel has since been established and new cities and towns have been built for the benefit of millions of Israelis. The young state no longer needs to engage in the same kind of chicanery as it did with the “Tower and Stockade” method. 

As it turns out, this is not the case. What I found in Harish reminds me of those very days. Just a few minutes’ drive from the city of Hadera — north of the center of Israel — there’s a large sign welcoming everyone passing through the gates of the settlement of Harish. But anyone who actually enters will soon discover that no one is manning the entrance gate. The barrier is a tad too rusty, and it must have known better days. But a rumpled Israeli flag hanging by the entrance hints that there are people living there. Signs pop up everywhere too, giving the impression that this is a very lively place.