Employing the physical act of building – the concrete ‘fact on the ground’ – as a means to disrupt the dominant structures of the spatial conflict. This may include acts of defiance that directly reject the de-facto balance of spatio-political power, or interventions realised within the existing political frameworks that point towards an alternative spatial future.
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 […]
Today (26th August), a broad coalition of grassroots activists will descend on Jerusalem from four directions, marching on Israeli checkpoints in Qalandia (Ramallah), Bethlehem, Shu’afat refugee camp and the village of Biddu. The action coincides with the international Youm Al-Quds (Jerusalem Day), which is marked annually on the last Friday of Ramadan. The action has […]
by Abir Kopty The following article was originally published on Mondoweiss. It is re-published on arenaofspeculation.org with kind permission from the author. Abir Kopty is a media analyst and consultant and political activist, she is a former city council member in Nazareth & former spokeswoman for Mossawa, the Advocacy Center for Arab Citizens in Israel. […]
In the coming week, activists from across the world are taking part in a collective action aimed at ending the siege of Gaza. Freedom Flotilla II (dubbed the “Stay Human” flotilla in memory of Italian activist Vittorio Arrigoni) is expected to bring together ships from 10 different countries, carrying passengers from across the spectrum of […]
By Daniel Monterescu This article was originally published under the title “The ‘Housing Intifada’ and Its Aftermath: Ethno-Gentrification and the Politics of Communal Existence in Jaffa” in Anthropology News, December 2008, pg. 21. (Republished on arenaofspeculation.org with permission from the author.) Jaffa, an ethnically “mixed town” located minutes away from Tel-Aviv’s metropolitan center, yet marked as sui generis cultural […]
This past weekend the world watched as Palestinians in Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Gaza and the West Bank marched on the recognised and unrecognised borders of Israel to mark Nakba Day. This by no means represents the first attempt by Palestinians to return to their homeland. In fact, against the odds, many thousands risked their lives […]
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 […]
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 […]
Società Italiana di Scienze Psicosociali per la Pace (Italian Society of Psycho-Social Sciences for Peace) has just published an online issue of its journal Pace, Conflitti e Violenza (Peace, Conflict and Violence) devoted to DAAR (Decolonizing Architecture | Art Residency). This monograph bringings together a collection of articles, interviews and diaries from current and former […]
by Nasser Abourahme and Sandi Hilal An extract from the forthcoming article: “Political Subjectification, the Production of Space and the Folding of Polarity: the case of Deheishe Camp, Palestine” in James Holston and Teresa Caldeira (eds.) Peripheries: Decentering Urban Theory, University of California Berkeley Press. (Republished on arenaofspeculation.org with permission from the authors.) In discussing […]