Maha Samman - Colonial Israel and Trans-Colonial Palestine

Taking a multidisciplinary approach to examine the dynamics of contestation and colonialism in Israel/Palestine, this book investigates the approaches for dealing with the colonial and post-colonial urban space, resituating them within the various theoretical frameworks in colonial urban studies.

The book uses Henry Lefebvres three constituents of space perceived, conceived and lived to analyse past and present colonial cases interactively with time. It mixes the non-temporal conceptual framework of analysis of colonialism using literature of previous colonial cases with the inter-temporal abstract Lefebvrian concepts of space to produce an inter-temporal re-reading of them. Israeli colonialism in the occupied areas of 1967, its contractions from Sinai and Gaza, and the implications on the West Bank are analysed in detail.

By illustrating the transformations in colonial urban space at different temporal stages, a new phase is proposed the trans-colonial. This provides a conceptual means to avoid the pitfalls of neocolonial and post-colonial influences experienced in previous cases, and the book goes on to highlight the implications of such a phase on the Palestinians. It is an important contribution to studies on Middle East Politics and Urban Geography.

Maha Samman holds an MSc in Urban Planning from the Technical University of Delft, the Netherlands, a PhD in Political Geography from the University of Exeter, UK and is Assistant Professor at Al-Quds University, Jerusalem.

Series Editor: Mick Dumper
University of Exeter

The Arab-Israeli conflict continues to be the centre of academic and popular attention. This series brings together the best of the cutting edge work now being undertaken by predominantly new and young scholars. Although largely falling within the field of political science the series also includes interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary contributions.

International Assistance to the Palestinians after Oslo
Political Guilt, Wasted Money
Anne Le More

Palestinian Political Prisoners
Identity and Community
Esmail Nashif

Understanding the Middle East Peace Process
Israeli Academia and the Struggle for Identity
Asima A. Ghazi-Bouillon

Palestinian Civil Society
Foreign Donors and the Power to Promote and Exclude
Benot Challand

The Jewish-Arab City
Spatio-Politics in a Mixed Community
Haim Yacobi

Zionist Israel and Apartheid South Africa
Civil Society and Peace Building in Ethnic-National States
Amneh Daoud Badran

The Political Right in Israel
Different Faces of Jewish Populism
Dani Filc

Reparations to Palestinian Refugees
A Comparative Perspective
Shahira Samy

Palestinian Refugees
Identity, Space and Place in the Levant
Edited by Are Knudsen and Sari Hanafi

The Rise and Fall of Arab Jerusalem
Palestinian Politics and the City since 1967
Hillel Cohen

Trans-Colonial Urban Space in Palestine
Politics and Development
Maha Samman

Politics and Development

Maha Samman

First published 2013

by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN

Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada
by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017

Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business

2013 Maha Samman

The right of Maha Samman to be identified as author of this work has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.

Trademark notice : Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A Catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Samman, Maha.
Trans-colonial urban space in Palestine: politics and development / Maha Samman.
p. cm. -- (Routledge studies on the Arab-Israeli conflict; 11)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Sociology, Urban--Israel. 2. Sociology, Urban--Palestine. 3. IsraelForeign relations--Palestine. 4. Palesting--Foreign relations--Israel. I. Title.
HT147.17S26 2012
307.76095694--dc23
2012025433

ISBN: 978-0-415-67732-5 (hbk)

ISBN: 978-0-203-80847-4 (ebk)

Typeset in Times New Roman
by Saxon Graphics Ltd, Derby

Power is not revealed by striking hard or often, but by striking true

(French novelist Honor de Balzac, 17991850)

Photos taken by author in 200910, unless stated otherwise.

This work reflects my academic journey from architect to urban planner to political geographer each with a specific lens. Merging these into one multi-focal lens began with the realization that an analysis on the future of Israeli settlements with regard to the Palestinian context could not be based on empirical data alone. My search for a broader conceptual reference began with the work by Anthony King who developed the concept of colonial urban development and examined the case of Delhi. As I looked at other cases of decolonization and post-colonial urban development, and reflected on the array of lessons that could be learnt, I was left wondering how one could analyze an ongoing condition. So began my search for works which merged space with time. The second shift in the research occurred upon discovering Henri Lefebvres monumental book on the production of space. My understanding of a conceptual amalgamation the production of colonial urban space began to take form as I read numerous other works by various authors and about several areas of the world which experienced residual forms of colonialism. Adopting Lefebvres concepts on the production of space opened my eyes to a richer approach to analysis of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. The following is my understanding of the seven-year journey and the utilization of the various combination of concepts to arrive at a new proposition of state of being beyond the colonial a trans-colonial stage. During this time dramatic changes have occurred in Jerusalem, where I live, in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and in the broader region. It is my humble hope that this effort may contribute in developing a path which colonized peoples whether once or current could have a future of which they are part.

Appreciation and thanks are due to many people for their support and assistance during the years of conducting this research both in Exeter and in Jerusalem. As this study emerged from my PhD research, I owe special gratitude to my supervisor Professor Michael Dumper for his intellectual support, critical discussions, encouraging feedback and constructive comments. His guidance, understanding and support throughout made my research years an intellectually challenging and fulfilling experience.