Journal of the mental environment
A new way of imagining space has emerged. After fragmenting the surface of the West Bank by walls and other barriers, Israeli planners started attempting to weave it together as two separate but overlapping national geographies – two territorial networks overlapping across the same area in three dimensions, without having to cross or come together.
One is an upper-land – the land of the settlements – a scattering of well-tended hilltop neighborhoods woven together by modern highways for the exclusive use of its inhabitants; the other, Palestine – crowded cities, towns and villages that inhabit the valleys between and underneath the hills, maintaining fragile connections on improvised underpasses. Within this new political space, separate security corridors, infrastructure, bridges and underground tunnels have been woven into a bewildering and impossible Escher-like territorial arrangement that struggles to multiply a single territorial reality.
Eyal Weizman
Hollow Land
After 60 years of hostility, three new books offer a new light and direction for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict: Lords of the Land: The War for Israel’s Settlements in the Occupied Territories, 1967-2007 by Idith Zertal and Akiva Eldar, Hollow Land: Israel’s Acrchitecture of Occupation by Eval Weizman and Hold Everything Dear: Dispatches on Survival and Resistance by John Berger. Excerpts from these books are highlighted in the following slideshow below:
Photo Credits: (Slide 1 and 2) HAZEM BADER/AFP/Getty Images, (Slide 3) GALI TIBBON/AFP/Getty Images, (Slide 4) Steeve Iunker (iuncker.ch), and (Slide 6) Newscom.
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Comments
Again, Adbusters is widely overlooking the Israeli point of view. It's easy for you to sit there in US/Western Europe and criticize the Israeli policy. As an Israeli citizen, I can tell you for sure that this wall prevents the critical majority of terrorits to explode themselves in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv Or Haifa.
In the summer of 2005, Israel made a brave and controversial step - It got out of Gaza, which demanded the evacuation of more than 10,000 people from their homes. Israel's mistake was that it wasn't a part of an agreement with the Palestinian Authority. Israel wasn't demanding anything back for it. It was hoped that it will be an important step in achieving peace. On the contrary. Since than, the Hamas terrorist organization took over Gaza, and constantly shooting missiles on Israel.
In this condition, only a fool or a very unresponsible statesman will do the same mistake in the west bank. Peace could not be achieved as long as the militant groups are ruling the PA. Therefore, the wall is the only way to stop the them on the ground. Unfortunately, we can't build a wall in the air to block missiles, and it's only a matter of time until they'll start using it in the west bank too. When it'll happand, I wouldn't be jealous of them...
qued for moderation?
i was been born into this conflict,and for the forst time,i feel im starting to believe it will never end.
"queued for moderation" Oh, I get it. Moderation. Yeah, right. Following the example of West Bank settlers I suppose.
The Berlin Wall comes down and the Israeli Wall goes up. So much for "culture". The US did not permanently occupy parts of Germany or Poland after WWII, thereby setting a good example. Israel is to the Palestinians as the US govt. and its citizens were to the Native Americans. Fanatical Zionists must go. The settlements are an absurd, morally repellant monstrosity. Expect the Palestinians to continue to lob rockets.
I'd like to say that I find the text of the speech-bubble by which some (Western) author has decided to represent the Palestinian man in the sixth photo to be rather problematic and, in fact, offensive.
I imagine that that man, after being allowed the chance (previously negated by Israel) to buy necessities for himself/his family/etc., in Egypt, had to return to Gaza, a location that many (yes, even 'reputable') observers have called an open-air prison. It seems highly presumptuous, then, to suggest that this Palestinian man, temporarily liberated from the brutal conditions of Gaza, would be able to experience any meaningful sense of freedom.
I believe you. That was not appropriate. I wonder if the person who did that , has hopes for that being the case, one day.
Man is capable of horrific atrociaties, and also immense good. Why would we settle for the first, rather than the latter? What good comes from making people prisoners, and treating them less than human?
Why?
It's year 2008, there's plenty of money in the world, there's technology, science, knowledge, thousands of years of experience, humans are still the most important creatures of the universe. But there's some among us who insists on degrading the humanity and supporting injustice that's unique to us. But there's an undeniable justice out of everything, I believe there will be a pay back but hopefully not in this world.