Zochrot | 8 meetings | Jan. 21-Mar. 11 | Wednesdays at 18:00-21:00 | Tel Aviv
Zochrot is proud to announce a unique course for planning professionals on the relation between the Nakba and fair planning. The course will look into the presence and absence of the Nakba in the planning world and introduce participants to critical planning tools and projects that rely on principles of justice and reconciliation.
The Nakba is increasingly present in Israeli discourse. In the planning area in particular, there is growing recognition of the Palestinian built legacy, but recognition of the Nakba and the Palestinian refugees as part of the past, present and future of our space is still taboo in the various planning areas in Israel. Planning is one of the most influential disciplines in terms of designing our diverse living environments. And Israeli planning systems have acted and still act to erase evidence to the pre-1948 Palestinian life in this country, operating as one of the mechanisms which reproduce the oppression and discrimination of the Palestinian population using planning tools and practices, both within Israel’s sovereign territories and in the OPT.
Planners have a key role to play in leading change processes in Israeli society, in recognizing the Nakba and in promoting a solution based on the values of justice and reconciliation by suggesting planning solutions that will promote and be informed by these principles.
Course plan: The course has three parts. The first part will deal with the Nakba and its spatial manifestations and planning implications. The second will discuss the following questions: Is the Nakba ongoing? What are its spatial manifestations and how does it affect the design of space? How does the formal planning policy act to erase, exclude and segregate the Palestinian population? Do land confiscations still occur? We will present the planning realities in East Jerusalem, the Negev, Palestinian towns and villages in Israel and refugee camps in the West Bank. The third part of the course will examine potential planning tools for the future that will also address the issue of return, with reference to various relevant planning models in Israel and worldwide.
The course is designed for architects, engineers, planners, designers and related professionals. It includes eight three-hour weekly meetings at 18:00-21:00, as well as a tour and various guest lectures. The course will be in Hebrew.
Course facilitators: Nili Baruch, city planner | Amaya Galili, education coordinator, Zochrot
Dates: First meeting, January 21, 2015; last meeting, March 11, 2015.
Location: Zochrot’s offices in 34 Yitzhak Sade St., 4th floor, Room 400.
Cost: 350 NIS, or according to ability to pay.
