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Advocacy Physical Intervention

Building Resilience in Hebron

By Elisa Ferrato, John Lewicki, and Mick Scott This article is co-published with the Open Democracy Cities in Conflict series. On February 14th a clash broke out in the Old City of Hebron as members of the Youth Against Settlements movement prevented a group of Israeli settlers from building a wall around the communal spring […]

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Spatial Analysis

Ramallah: The ‘Transforming City’

by Nura Alkhalili This photo essay was originally published in the Berkeley Planning Journal. It is republished on arenaofspeculation.org with kind permission from the author. The piece, based on a study between May and November 2011, traces the evolution of a wall located between a newly established “Public Fitness Park” in Ramallah city and the […]

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Critical Speculation

Re:LIFTA, Within the Right to Plan is the Right to Imagine Return

By Mahdi Sabbagh Lifta digital art exhibition poster (Collective MIP) A picturesque ascent overlooking Wadi el-Shami greets every car driving from Ben Gurion Airport to Jerusalem. The valley is dotted with trees and shrubbery, adorned with a family of stone houses. Those familiar with Palestine’s history instantly recognize the ghostly presence of the deserted village […]

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Advocacy Spatial Analysis

The Palestinian Authority, UNESCO, and the Illusion of Triumph

By Ryvka Barnard This article was originally posted on Jadaliyya, and is re-posted on arenaofspeculation.org with permission from the author. Over one weekend, two seemingly incongruous sets of images dominated the news from Palestine: one set displayed local tourism operators and Palestinian Authority (PA) officials in Bethlehem celebrating the designation of the Nativity Church as […]

Categories
Advocacy

Architects and Planners for Justice in Palestine: An Interview with Abe Hayeem

Abe Hayeem, chair of Architects and Planners for Justice in Palestine (APJP), speaks with arenaofspeculation.org in a discussion covering professional ethics and modes of action being taken by architects and planners in solidarity with the Palestinian spatial struggle. Specifically, the discussion focuses on the work of APJP in highlighting the role of Israeli architects and […]

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Critical Speculation Spatial Analysis

Playing in a Landscape of Separation Lines and Practices

By Idit Elia Nathan ‘Just as none of us is outside or beyond geography, none of us is completely free from the struggle over geography. That struggle is complex and interesting because it is not only about soldiers and cannons but also about ideas, about forms, about images and imaginings.’ -Edward Said ‘Perception Requires Involvement’ […]

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Spatial Analysis

Maps and the Question of Palestine: An interview with Denis Wood

Exclusive to arenaofspeculation.org, Linda Quiquivix shares her recent interview with independent scholar and author Denis Wood. Follow link below for the full interview: Interview: “Maps and the Question of Palestine” Denis Wood has been writing critically about maps for the past four decades. His recently published Rethinking the Power of Maps (Guilford Press, 2010) argues […]

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Critical Speculation

Decolonizing the Mind: TEDxRamallah Talk by Alessandro Petti

Alessandro Petti, director of DAAR (Decolonizing Architecture Art Residency), talks about the work and approach of the practice. The talk was a part of the TEDxRamallah event, previously featured on arenaofspeculation.org and supported by contributors to the site. The DAAR office was founded in 2007 with the aim of moving beyond simply describing the spatial […]

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Spatial Analysis

Consigned to History? Memoirs of a Closed Rafah Crossing

by Sami Kishawi At a moment of immense hope following the Egyptian announcement that the Rafah crossing is soon to be permanently reopened, Sami Kishawi offers a personal reflection on the untold history of the siege of Gaza, prior to the 2005 Israeli ‘pull-out’. This article was originally published on Sami’s blog ‘Sixteen Minutes to […]

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Critical Speculation Physical Intervention

TEDxRamallah: Voices from Free Palestine

On Saturday 16th April, TEDxRamallah, a remarkable transnational event will be taking place in Bethlehem, Amman and Beirut, to be streamed on the same day to venues in more than 20 cities across the world, from Cairo to New York. Asserting “the power of culture over the culture of power”,(1) in the words of the […]

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Advocacy Physical Intervention

Land Day: Al-Araqib and its Implications for the Spatial Struggle

Since 27 July 2010, when Israeli authorities demolished the village for the first time, the struggle for al-Araqib has risen to international prominence, becoming a focal point in the Palestine solidarity movement, both locally and internationally. On the occasion of Land Day (which this year sees a global BDS day of action), it seems apt […]

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Advocacy Spatial Analysis

Makan: The Right to a Spatial Narrative

Adalah, the Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, recently published Volume 2 of Makan (meaning ‘Place’ in Arabic), their periodic journal for Land, Planning and Justice. This volume reveals the centrality of spatial planning and urban design in the continued suppression of Palestinian history and memory. Indeed, it is argued that this erasure […]