Urbicide in Palestine: Spaces of oppression and resilience

275 Pages·2014·11.951 MB·English

by  Nurhan Abujidi

Urbicide in Palestine
Exploring the way urbicide is used to un/re-make Palestine, as well as how it is
employed as a tool of spatial dispossession and control, this book examines
contemporary political violence and destruction in the context of colonial projects
in Palestine.
The broader framework of the book is colonial and post-urban destruction
urbanism; with a working hypothesis that there are links, gaps and blind spots in
the understanding of urbicide discourse. Drawing on several examples from the
Palestinian history of destruction and transformations, such as Jenin Refugee Camp,
Hebron Old Town, and Nablus Old Town, a methodological framework to identify
urbicidal episodes is also generated.
Advancing knowledge on one historical moment of the urban condition, the
moment of its destruction, and enhancing the understanding of the Palestinian
Israeli conflict from urbanistic/architectonic and urbicide/spacio-cide perspectives
through the use of case studies, this book is essential reading for scholars and
researchers with an interest in urban geography and Middle East politics more
broadly.
Nurhan Abujidi received her PhD in architecture, urban design and regional
planning from the Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium, where she is currently
a visiting professor. She worked as Director, Research Director and International
Relations Coordinator at the school of Architecture, San Jorge University, Spain.
She is Associate Researcher with the COSMOPLIS research group on City,
Culture and Society at the VUB, Brussels, Belgium, working on the areas of
military urbanism and architecture of resistance.
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Urbicide in
Palestine
Spaces of oppression
and resilience
Nurhan Abujidi
First published 2014
by Routledge
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© 2014 Nurhan Abujidi
The right of Nurhan Abujidi to be identified as author of this work
has been asserted by her in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced
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British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Abujidi, Nurhan.
Urbicide in Palestine: spaces of oppression and resilience/Nurhan Abujidi.
pages cm.—(Routledge studies in Middle Eastern politics; 63)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Cities and towns—Political aspects—Palestine.
2. Arab-Israeli conflict—Social aspects. 3. Urban policy—Palestine.
4. Sociology, Urban—Palestine. 5. Refugee camps—Palestine.
6. Cultural landscapes—Palestine. 7. Cultural property—Palestine.
8. Nationalism—Palestine. 9. Palestinian Arabs—Ethnic identity.
I. Title.
HT147.P27A28 2014
307.76095694—dc23 2013032384
ISBN: 978-0-415-62705-4 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-315-81909-9 (ebk)
Typeset in Times New Roman and Stone Sans
by Florence Production Ltd, Stoodleigh, Devon, UK
We Palestinians have a habit of dedicating our work to Palestine.
In a context such as urbicide, maybe it is a practice that we all need
—to reaffirm to ourselves first of all that Palestine still exists, will
remain and live on.
The practice of dedicating includes an act of coming to terms with what has
been written. I have to confess, that I still have not, as it symbolizes far more
than what is written. Not as a piece of literature—but as a lived experience of
those who are Palestinians and still living in Palestine. An experience that
projects also the condition of many nations and communities worldwide.
Maybe it would have been easier to dedicate something that is about a time,
a place or a topic that was more cheerful. Not in this case.
Palestinians know what urbicide is. They use other terms, understand it
differently . . . and are forced to live with it.
Thus, I chose not to dedicate this to Palestine. For it has enough.
I dedicate it—
To those who don’t know,
To those who have forgotten,
Or to those who simply choose to disdain what they know,
Who chose to ignore what they had created.
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Contents
List of figures xi
Acknowledgments xv
Introduction: experiencing spaces of oppression and
resistance 1
PART I
City, war and urbicide: inquiry 7
1 Cities and war 9
2 Urbicide: theoretical inquiry 26
PART II
Urbicide in Palestine 45
3 History of urban/territorial destruction in Palestine
1948–2002 47
4 Nablus: historical perspective 85
5 Nablus: a city of heritage 98
6 Urbicide in Nablus 2002–2005 143