The Limits of Symbolic Capital: The Case of Jerusalem's Jewish Quarter Evacuees in Qatamon

ABSTRACT:During Israel's War of Independence evacuees from the Jewish Quarter in Jerusalem's Old City were resettled in the abandoned Arab neighborhood of Qatamon only to be threatened soon after with eviction and replacement by members of the civil service. Repeated attempts at collective eviction ended with most of the evacuees managing to remain in their homes and enjoy comfortable rent arrangements. This outcome has been attributed by some to the symbolic capital of the Old City refugees, the empathy they elicited from the general public and the state's decision makers in response to their harsh wartime experiences and material sacrifices. Alternately, a critical analysis would suggest that the determining factor was the authorities' unrelated desire to end what had become a drawn-out affair, combined with logistical reasons that worked in favor of the refugees. The case before us offers new insights into the role of capital, symbolic and otherwise, in the shaping of Jerusalem's physical space during the early days of Israeli statehood.