In Jaffa, gentrification stokes discord as Arabs pushed out

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Historic Jaffa’s rapid gentrification in recent years is coming at the expense of its working-class Arab residents. With housing prices out of reach, discontent over the city’s rapid transformation into a bastion for Israel’s ultra-wealthy is reaching a boiling point. Veteran Arab residents say the housing crunch is destroying their communities. They say younger people can’t afford to stay, but they have few places to go because of discrimination in nearby cities with predominantly Jewish populations. Long smoldering tensions reached a simmer last week after the rabbi and director of a pre-military religious seminary in a predominantly Arab neighborhood were assaulted by two residents while visiting an apartment for sale.