Urban planning can improve cities just like it can worsen them. Israel and Palestine have an ongoing conflict that has much to do with power and land occupancy. Urban planning as a weapon can be identified within this dispute. But, first, it is important to understand Israel and Palestine's historical narratives.
In the late 19th century nationalistic Europe, the idea for Jews to leave the continent and gather in their own space gained popularity. As a result, the Zionism movement led many Jews to Israel since it is known as the Holy Land and homeland in Judaism (Jubaer, Abdullah, & Rahman, 2021).
Mounting Jewish Palestinians focused on gaining occupancy and controlling land use to secure their community. Consequently, throughout the early 1900s, frictions between Jews and Arab Palestinians grew as the former were being suppressed (Jubaer, Abdullah, & Rahman, 2021).
In 1947, the United Nations Partition Plan intended to divide Palestine into two independent states – Palestinian and Jewish – equal in size but broken into abstract places (Jubaer, Abdullah, & Rahman, 2021). Being uncontented, the Arab–Israeli War erupted in 1948. Israelis won in 1949, gaining more land and debuting their nation. Palestinians' defeat would be referred to as Nakba (النكبة) – meaning catastrophe – where most of their community was displaced, and their homeland was demolished, including many deaths (Jubaer, Abdullah, & Rahman, 2021).
Since then, the Arab–Israeli War has been refined to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Unfortunately, this dispute continues today, counting numerous casualties through violent protests, riots, invasions, wars, and more.
Figure 1. Palestinians in Aqsa Mosque Respond to Israeli Police’s Raid. On May 10th, 2021, violence broke out as Israeli police raided Aqsa Mosque. Militants in Gaza reacted by firing rockets at Jerusalem, and then Israelis responded with airstrikes (Kingsley & Kershner, 2021). The image above shows Palestinians in Aqsa Mosque throwing rocks at the Israeli police. Photograph: Mahmoud Illean (2021).
Israeli Jews and Palestinian Arabs are mixed and conglomerated. While Palestinian entities and amenities are being terminated, the Jewish are being developed, unified, and financed by the state (Katz & Haim, 2021). Hence, they share a space but are still spatially and socially separated.
In the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the state uses urban planning to guide density, vulnerability, division, and dislocation (Katz & Haim, 2021). Unfortunately, the tool has been weaponized for the uprise of one community and the downfall of another. This example recognizes the power of urban planning and how it can affect communities for better or worse.
References
Haim, Y. & Katz, I. (2021) How Urban Planning Plays a Role in Israel-Palestine. The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/how-urban-planning-plays-a-role-in-israel-palestine-161035
Kingsley, P. & Kershner, I. (2021) After Raid on Aqsa Mosque, Rockets from Gaza and Israeli Airstrikes. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/10/world/middleeast/jerusalem-protests-aqsa-palestinians.html
Jubaer, S. M. O. F., Abdullah, S. M. J. S., & Rahman, S. M. A. (2021). The Conflicts Between Israel and Palestine: A History Changed by The Historians. Emergent: Journal of Educational Discoveries and Lifelong Learning (EJEDL), 2(05), 143-173. https://ejedl.academiascience.org/index.php/ejedl/article/view/68
Picture Reference
Scheiner, S. (2021) Palestinians Threw Rocks at the Israeli Police. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/10/world/middleeast/jerusalem-protests-aqsa-palestinians.html