CHARLES JENCKS TALKS ON THE ISRAELI PAVILION

...[the Israelis more than any other pavilion have, gone to a subject which is political, inflammatory and questionable for architects today, especially given the Lebanese situation. I don’t think they intended to raise these issues but inadvertently they have and inasmuch as September l1 is being commemorated in two days in America and is an American memorialisation through architecture of death, suffering and bereavement. I am a great believer that architecture should take a symbolic role and this exhibition does that. The problem is that it doesn’t have any place for the Palestinians who represent either 20 % or 50 % of the population. The Palestinians are not allowed to commemorate or memorialize anything in their past that has been repressed; such as the 560 villages towns and cities which have been destroyed and wiped out.]...

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Facts on Settlements

There are 121 official settlements in the West Bank. The built up area of the settlements is less than 3% of the area of the West Bank but the area they control (municipal area) is more than 40%. There are 101 unauthorised outposts in the West Bank.There are 240,000 settlers in the West Bank, not including East Jerusalem. 60% of the West Bank is under Israeli control. The separation barrier Israel is building annexes 10 per cent of the West Bank

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The EU Report on Jerusalem 2005

European Union diplomats slammed Israel’s policies in occupied Arab East Jerusalem, saying that they are hurting the prospects of a final peace deal with the Palestinians, according to a leaked copy of a classified EU report.

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Ethnic Cleansing in the Jordan Valley

A chilling account of the ethnic cleansing of the Jordan Valley, in preparation for its annexation. The eastern side of the 'Fence' is being built, and Israeli agricultural combines like Agrexco (Carmel) are reaping the benefits, while strangling Palestinian farming possibilities. This epitomises the most brutal and blatant land grab, and the further erosion a Palestinian state to enmeshed slivers of land.

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PLANNING RIGHTS IN ARAB COMMUNITIES IN ISRAEL: AN OVERVIEW

Planning in Israel is not unconnected with the larger political, national, and economic context, and not infrequently appears to reflect biased priorities on the part of decision-makers. The result is a sense of ongoing discrimination among large segments of the population attributable to, among other things, discriminatory planning.

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