Taking a micro-geographical approach to Israeli-Palestinian relations, this book analyses the history of space and place in West Jerusalem and Jaffa in the context of specific addresses.
Based on the unique and innovative ‘archaeology of addresses’ methodology, the book provides an in-depth analysis of 11 specific sites. This ‘micro’ perspective – paying particular attention to the history and past ownership of an individual property – allows the author to draw new insights into the process of ‘population exchange’ that took place in 1948 when Jewish people began to populate Palestinian deserted homes after the Nakba. By looking at archival planning documents, the histories of addresses as ‘contact zones’ between previous and current owners are revealed. Moreover, the research on each address highlights new theoretical understandings, encompassing: the micro-politics of the contact zone; mediated agonism; ruinations and beginnings; creative destruction in urban planning; the right to the city and the right to return; the violence of property; and fragmented settler colonialism. The book concludes by proposing practical applications of the research in teaching and planning practice.
The book will prove important reading for students and researchers interested in urban planning, Middle Eastern geography, and the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Introduction Part I: Jaffa 1. The Micro-Politics of the Home as a Contact Zone: 218 Yefet Street, Jaffa 2. The Politics of Recognition and Mediated Agonism: 58 Shivtei Israel Street, Jaffa 3. Ruinations and Beginnings: 8 Hatsedef Street in the Maronite Neighbourhood – Suknet Al-Huresh, Jaffa 4. Between Antiquities and Ruins in the Neoliberal Age: Conservation of the New Saraya at 21 Raziel Street, Jaffa Part II: Jerusalem 5. Creative Destruction in Urban Planning Procedures: The Language Of ‘Renewal’ and ‘Exploitation’ 6. Between the Right to the City and the Right of Return: 37 Jabotinsky/El-Amir Abdullah Street, West Jerusalem 7. The Violence of Property – Ethnography of Missing Testimonies in Registry Office Documents: 3 Hama’aravim Street and 38 Keren Hayesod Street, Jerusalem 8. Property, Ownership, and ‘Conservation’: Settler Colonial and Neoliberal Practices and the Crack between Them at 5 and 7 Hovevei Zion Street in Jerusalem 9. The Micro-Geography of a Home as a Contact Zone: Urban Planning in Fragmented Settler Colonialism Part III: Between Theory and Practice 10. The Home as a Contact Zone: Performative Strategies and Practices in Promoting Israeli-Palestinian Recognition 11. The Archaeology of the Address in an Applied Student Project: Conceptual Plan for Palestinian Heritage Tourism in the Nuzha Neighbourhood, Jaffa 12. Students Learn about the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict through the Archaeology of the Address Project: Some Insights 13. Musical Sites as ‘Whitening’ ‘Grey Spaces’ at 7 Levontin Street, Tel Aviv 14. The Micro-Geographies of the Neoliberal Settler Colonial Regime: Concluding Comments
Biography
Tovi Fenster is Professor in the Department of Geography and Human Environment at Tel Aviv University, as well as the founder and head of PECLAB. She teaches social and cultural geography and urban planning, and has published articles and book chapters on ethnicity, citizenship and gender in planning and development.
