Dynamics of colonial urbanism: a view from Israel/Palestine

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Posted on: 28 January 2014
By: mackene
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Filed under: News

This is a video of a talk by Dr Haim Yacobi, a lecturer in the Department of Politics and Government at Ben-Gurion University as well as an architect and planner. The term “mixed cities” is widely used in Israel, describing an urban situation in which Jewish and Arab communities occupy the same urban jurisdiction. However, a critical examination questions this terminology that brings to mind integration and mutual membership of society, while reality is controversial. Similar to other cases of ethnic nationalism, a clear spatial and mental division exists between Arabs and Jews in Israel, and hence the occurrence of “mixed” spaces is both exceptional and involuntary. Rather, it has resulted from a historical process during which the Israeli territory, including previously Arab cities, has been profoundly Judaized. In this process, the Palestinian community remaining in Israel following the 1948 war, has become a marginalized and dispossessed minority. Beyond the significant effect of the social and political processes, the ex-Palestinian urban fabric has been dramatically transformed. 

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