9 February 2011
Yitzhak Lipovetsky, President
Israeli Association of United Architects
13, Hamigdalor Street
Tel Aviv/Jaffa 68037
Israel
Dear Yitzhak Lipovetsky
Please help the campaign to save Lifta
You may be aware that there has been on ongoing campaign to save Lifta, which has become known within Israel and internationally as a quintessential Palestinian village, one of the few of the 500 villages that had not been completely destroyed by Israeli forces in the war of 1948. Lifta is celebrated as part of a beautiful landscape of ruins, loved by walkers and nature enthusiasts, but remembered primarily by its original inhabitants many of whom live nearby but have never been allowed to return.
Numerous organisations, especially BIMKOM, Zochrot and FAST have lobbied for the village to be listed by UNESCO as a heritage site, as a symbol of reconciliation between Palestinians and Israelis, and for alternative plans they have formulated with the Land and Housing Research Centre. Architects and Planners for Justice in Palestine in 2005 placed an advertisement in the Times, signed by over 350 architects and planners worldwide, many of them eminent figures including academics, to help save Lifta for its original Palestinian inhabitants. http://apjp.org/saving-lifta-a-case-against-a/ . Esther Zandberg in Haaretz has again written a moving plea for the village to be symbolically returned to those who were forcibly removed from there, instead of building 212 luxury apartments that will be bought only by Jewish people, in the proposed decade-long project (plan number 6036) that the Israel Land Administration wishes now to commence. This is all on expropriated Palestinian land. http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/features/the-lifta-that-never-will-be-1.340964
As with the campaigns against the projects in East Jerusalem for the City of David and the King’s Garden in Silwan, we have written to your Association on various occasions to ask you to refute and help stop these projects since they involve deep injustices to the Palestinians, (either citizens of Israel, or in the occupied territories), are contrary to international law and the Geneva Conventions, but more importantly are against professional ethics that are particularly needed in countries with whole sections of their populations that are being imprisoned and discriminated against by government policy as a people.
Despite international agreements, numerous UN resolutions and EU Commission reports against them, before the founding of the Israeli state in 1948 and since 1967, Israeli architects have continued to help build settlements and towns illegal under international law on expropriated Palestinian land in the Occupied Territories including annexed East Jerusalem. Israel’s discriminatory architectural and planning projects have accelerated daily, with thousands of dwellings and public facilities being built for Jewish citizens only, forcing the dispossession of Palestinians from their homes and land, and the destruction of their civic life, culture and national rights. This has prevented any just solution for establishing a Palestinian state, and an end to the house demolitions, evictions, and land theft that has so enraged the democratic world. Much of the work of Israeli architects can be construed as participation in war crimes, as has been described in ‘Hollow Land’ by Eyal Weizman.
These activities are in clear violation of the code of ethics of the International Union of Architects (UIA), (article 3) which says that “there shall be no attempt to impose solutions of one society on other societies” (article 1:2) and that professionals shall fashion an environment “expressive of the genius of the people and reflective of the substance of their culture”). Principle 2 says: “Architects have obligations to the public to embrace the spirit and letter of the laws governing their professional affairs, and should thoughtfully consider the social and environmental impact of their professional activities.”
The UIA in Brazil on 31 July 2009 reaffirmed Resolution 13 at the UIA Assembly of July 2005 in Istanbul, “The UIA Council condemns development projects and the construction of buildings on land that has been ethnically purified or illegally appropriated, and projects based on regulations that are ethnically or culturally discriminatory, and similarly it condemns all action contravening the fourth Geneva Convention”.
Our attempts at dialogue with the Israeli Association of United Architects (IAUA) have brought no change. The IAUA has shown total detachment from these practices by its members, and maintains it cannot get involved with their work. Surely you must see that this is an untenable and unacceptable state of affairs. Yet the IAUA eagerly sought to reinstate its membership of the UIA last July 2010.
Surely now is the most critical time for the IAUA to have the courage to consider what is morally and ethically unacceptable and help to oppose the ILA’s plans for Lifta, (and all such projects) and to take to task the architects who are carrying such plans forward, as proposed by ARC in 2009 < http://apjp.org/israeli-architects-stop-design/>. It can be shown that even though Lifta is within Israel, building on land owned by Palestinian refugees is intrinsically illegal. The 1947 United Nations partition plan declared Jerusalem a corpus separatum, a separate body, to be run under an international UN administration. That is still its only internationally recognised status.
Further the Palestinian refugees have a right to return to their homes. In the specific case of the Palestinians, this right was affirmed by the United Nations Resolution 194 of 1948, and has been reaffirmed repeatedly by that same body, and has also been recognized by independent organizations such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.
The U.S. government supported Resolution 194, and voted repeatedly to affirm it until 1993. Israel refuses to allow the refugees to return to villages, towns and cities inside Israel due to their ethnic, national and religious origin, nor to build for their sevenfold population expansion.
Although Israel has so far refused to recognize this right, all refugees have an internationally recognized right to return to areas from which they have fled or were forced out, to receive compensation for damages, and to either regain their properties or receive compensation and support for voluntary resettlement. This right derives from a number of legal sources, including customary international law, international humanitarian law (governing rights of civilians during war), and human rights law. The United States government has forcefully supported this right in recent years for refugees from Bosnia, Kosovo, East Timor and elsewhere.
This would be a wonderful opportunity for Israel, as an act of reconciliation, to cancel Plan 6036, and to allow the many alternative projects for Lifta to be considered for implementation, ones that involve the Lifta people. The IAUA can gain some credibility and approval by backing such projects, that do not involve the erasure of Palestinian history and humanity.
We look forward to hearing from you what you plan to do to help such an alternative project to come to fruition. http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article4462.shtml
Yours sincerely
Abe Hayeem, RIBA
Chair, APJP and on behalf of all the signatories attached.
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E1-Lifta-Silwan Petition Signatories 2005
The Times Ad and ongoing signatures
Acting against international law, Israel continues to build illegal settlements on Palestinian territory. Israeli architects and planners have helped build settlements and towns on appropriated Palestinian land. Architects and Planners for Justice in Palestine (APJP) assert that the actions of Israeli architects and planners working in conjunction with this enterprise, are unethical, and contravene professional codes of conduct and UIA codes. It is time to challenge the IAUA and the Israeli government to end such projects. We have launched a petition to highlight 3 projects that typify the appropriation of Palestinian land aided by Israeli architects and other design professionals:
In Silwan 88 Palestinian homes are under threat of demolition. This is part of a development for ultra-religious Israeli settlers on illegally annexed Palestinian land.
The E1 Plan expands the largest illegal settlement, Ma’ale Adumim, to link it with metropolitan Jerusalem; it will dissect the northern and southern West Bank, destroying the possibility of a contiguous Palestinian state.
Support the campaign to save Lifta, the ruins of a Palestinian village, from being converted into a Jewish only luxury development, to the exclusion of the original Palestinian inhabitants, their heritage and memory.
We call on the Israeli Association of United Architects to adhere to UIA Codes of Conduct, and end the participation of their members and fellow professionals in creating ‘facts on the ground’ to obliterate the idea of a viable future Palestinian state.
Abe Hayeem, Architect RIBA
Chair: Architects & Planners for Justice in Palestine and all the following signatories:
Charles Jencks: Architectural Historian, Writer and Critic, UK/USA
Ted Cullinan, CBE, RA: Edward Cullinan Architects, UK
Will Alsop RA, OBE: Principal SMC William Alsop, Winner Stirling Prize 2000, UK
Zvi Hecker: Architect, Germany/Netherlands/Israel
Sir Terry Farrell: Principal Terry Farrell Partners, UK
Sir Richard McCormack: Partner MJP Architects, Former RIBA President, UK
George Ferguson: Acanthus Ferguson Mann Architects, Former President RIBA
Jack Pringle: RIBA Former President, 2005-2007 UK. Pringle Brandon
Sunand Prasad: RIBA President, 2007-2009, Principal Penoyre Prasad Architects, UK
Eva Jiricna: Principal Jiricna Architects, UK
Rick Mather: Principal Rick Mather Architects, UK
Eyal Weizman: Author ‘A Civilan Occupation’, “Hollow Land”, Director Centre for Research Architecture, Goldsmith’s College, UK/Israel
Paul Hyett: RIBA President 2001-2003, UK
Hans Haenlein: Principal Hans Haenlein Architects, UK
Neave Brown: Artist and Architect of Alexandra Road, UK
Robin Nicholson: ECA architects, UK
David Levitt: Architect Levitt, Bernstein, UK
Tom Kay: Architect, UK
Jeff Halper : ICAHD Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions, Israel
Malkit Shoshan: Director of Foundation for Achieving Seamless Territory (FAST), Netherlands/Israel
Shmulik Groag: BIMKOM, Israel. (E1, Silwan)
Haifa Hammami: Architect, APJP Secretary, UK
Cezary Bednarski: Principal Studio Bednarski, UK/Poland
Professor Nasser Rabat: Aga Khan Professor, MIT, USA
Professor Mike Davis: Author ‘City of Quartz’, Professor University of California Davis, USA
Professor Saskia Sassen: Author ‘Cities in a World Economy’, University of Chicago; London School of Economics, USA/UK
Suad Amiry: Author, Founder and Director of RIWAQ, Centre for Architectural Conservation, Palestine
Beatriz Maturana: Archimage, President and Founder of Architects for Peace, Australia
Eitan Bronstein: Director of Zochrot, Israel
Professor Uri Davis: Al Quds University, PA, IAIS, Founder of Al-Beit, Israel
Professor Samer Akkach: Director Centre for Asian and Middle Eastern Architecture, Adelaide, University, Australia
Professor Zvi Efrat: Department Head, Architecture Department, Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design, Jerusalem, Israel
Professor Derek Gregory: Distinguished Scholar, Professor of Geography, University of British Columbia, Canada
Professor Neil Smith: PhD Johns Hopkins, Distinguished Prof. CUNY Graduate Center, USA
Osama Hamdan: Conservation Architect and Lecturer, Al Quds University, Palestine
Professor Haim Bresheeth: Filmmaker, Photographer, Chair of Media and Cultural Studies, University East London, UK/Israel
Professor Bob Tavernor: Director of Cities Program, Architecture and Urban Studies, London School of Economics, UK
Dr. Gaetano Palumbo: Institute of Archaeology, University College London, UK
Professor Oren Yiftahel: Professor of Geography, Ben Gurion University, Israel
David Tartakover: Graphic Designer, Israel Prize Laureate for Design 2002, Israel
Professor Mario Coyula: Architect and Urban Planner, Cuba
Professor Peter Marcuse: Columbia University,NY, USA
Dick Urban Vestro: Professor Emeritus,School of Architecture, Stockholm
Alon Cohen Lifshitz: BIMKOM, Israel
Lynda Thorne: EU Environmental Consultant, Romania
Ian Martin: Architects Journal Magazine, UK
Louis Hellman: Architect and Cartoonist, UK
Robert Bevan: Author ‘The Destruction of Memory’, UK
Dr. Jim Berrow: Architectural Historian, U
Arad Sharon: AA dipl, Director Arieh Sharon, Eldar Sharon Architects & Town Planners L.T.D, Israel
Angela Godfrey-Goldstein: ICAHD
Georgeann B. Burns AIA: Principal, RTKL Associates, Inc., USA
Gail Waldman: Waldman-Jim Architects, UK
Ceridwen Owen: Architect, Lecturer in Architecture, University of Tasmania, Australia
Karen McWilliam: Architect, Lab Architecture, Australia
Raphael Sperry AIA: Architects/Designers/Planners for Social Responsibility, USA
Claudia Bloom: Director, Avanti Architects, UK
Michael Safier: Planner, Bartlett College, University College London, UK
Junko Iwaya: Architect, Japan
Professor Bas Molenaar: Healthcare Architect, Netherlands
Aurore Julien: Renewable Energy Consultant, UK
Charles Dunnett: Dunnett Craven Ltd., UK
Ross Ramus: RAIA Ramus Architects,USA
Mikolaj Kadubowski: Partner GRUPA 5 ARCHITECTS, Warsaw
Mungo Smith: Director of MAAP Architects, London
Susan Francis: Special Advisor on Healthcare, CABE, London
Mark Kubaczka: Dyrektor, artchitecture sp zo o, Warsaw
Liane Friedrich: Architect, Brazil
Prof. Hennu Kjisik: Architect, Finland
Derek Stow OBE: Architect, London
Professor Irene Bruegel: Planner, London South Bank University, UK
Dace Kalvane: Aplus architects, Latvia
Douglas Carson: Eric Parry Architects
Hubert Murray AIA, RIBA: President of Boston Society of Architects, USA
Nick Jeffrey: Retired Head of School of Planning the Architectural Association, Guest Curator in Arch. Tate Modern, UK
Phil Gusack: Architect, UK
Keith Bennett, RIBA: Architect, UK
Laura Natkins: Architect, Harvard University , USA
Shelley Indyk: Architect, Principal Indyk Ltd., Australia
Salem Thawaba: PhD, Bir Zeit University , Palestine
Tchaik Chassay: Chassay+Last Architects
Omar Qattan: Qattan Foundation, UK
Kate Mackintosh: Architect, UK
Walter Hain: Architect, UK
John Murray: Architect, UK
Mayyad Bader, Architect, Australia, Palestine
David Berridge: Architect,UK
Sidney Bernstein: Architect
Prof David E. Pegg: York University
Erland Seilskkjaer: Architect, Norway
Frank de Marco: Architect UK
Yara Sharif: PhD, Architect,UK, Palestine
Prof. Nasser Golzary: Golzary Architects
Francesca Viceconti: Architect, Italy
Martin O’Shea: Architect, UK
Salim Jaleel: Architect, UK
Michael Gwilliam: Planner, UK
Clive Jones: Architect, UK
Mike Macrae: Architect, UK
Michael Goulden: Architect, Wales
Joanna Heilig: Architect, Sweden
Ahmad Barclay, PhD, Cardiff University
David Yeaman: Architect, UK
Reuven Rosenfelder, Israel
Sharon Rosenfelder, Israel.
Anne Markey: Architect, London Metropolitan University
Joanna Chambers: Planner, UK
Jeremy Dain: Architect, UK
Malcolm Hecks: Architect, France
Kelvin Bland: Architect, UK
Joe Lynes: Engineer & CPT, Palestine
Nadia Habash: Architect, UK
Zahira Nazer: Urbanist, UK
Karin Pally: Planner, LA
Ed Hall: Architect, UK
Shaqir Sufian: Architect, UK
John Waller: Architect, UK
Paul Barham: Architect, UK
Geoff Haslam: Architect, UK
Prof. Terry Meade: Architect, Brighton University, UK
Martin Crookston: Architect, UK
Alan Arnstein: Architect, UK
Tarek Ragheb: Architect, UK
Gil Doron: Artist, UK/Israel
Nicholas Wood: Architect UK/South Africa
Sarah Wood, UK
Keith Cowling: Architect, UK
Jake Brown: Architect, UK
Steve Fox: Architect, UK
Keith Hallett: Architect, UK
Adrian King: Architect, UK
John Hodge: Architect, UK
Issa Sarie: Architect, UK
Wade Sowman: Planner, New Zealand
Jose Vilar: Architect, USA
D. Shah: Architect, UK
Samir Srouji: Architect, USA
M. Azhar: Architect, UK.
Stefano Ferrari: Architect, UK/Italy
Fahmi Salameh: Architect, Palestine
Ray Bowden, Architect, UK
Vassilis Ierides: Architect, Greece
Khaldun Bishara: RIWAQ Architect
Steve Kessel: Architect, UK
Javiera Maturana: Planner, Australia
Yaron Turel: Architect, Israel
Orna Shatil: Architect, Israel
Frederico Zaidan: Architect, Brazil
Shelly Roberts: Architect, Australia
Tim Bruce Dick: Architect, UK
M. Azhar: Architect, UK
Hasan A. Hammami, USA
Eleanor Chapman: Australia
Nadia Piette: Netherlands
Ivar Leivestad: Australia
Merinda Hall: Australia
Racheli Bar Or: Israel
Walid Issa: USA
Julian Rutt: Australia
Nadine Samaha: Australia
Imm Chew
Ranad Shqeirat
Kabir Hussain
Abdulmajid Karanouh
Neil Lambert, Architect, UK
David Reidy
Leena Ismail
Miranda Pennell
Jennifer Dudgeon
Susan Mellersh Lucas
Noor Salman
Rand el haj Hasan
Eleanor Mayfield
Jose Vilar
Tariq Z. Khayyat
Emily Jack
Samer Rabie
Jalal El Ali
Noor Tibi
Yusuf Tibeh
Dave Reidy
Amal Moh
Dan Rigamonti
Judy Andler
Sharon Rosenfelder, Israel (Silwan)
Reuven Rosenfelder, Israel (Silwan)
Rosaleen Crushell
MJ Bissan: Sculptor
Hugo David Moline
Mima Kearns
Alex Whitton
Gareth Mantle
Nathan Fothergill
Randy Eveleigh
Roger Rajaratnam: Australia
Kim Roberts (Lifta)
Alif Nadya Inniar Rosa
Noor Tibi (Lifta)
Yasid Abed Rego
Nihal Alayyah
Daoud Abdallah
Hala Atik
Shaden Qasem
Samira Shehadeh
Giselle Benitez: Planner, NSW, Australia
Ruba Awwad
Marc Loran
Sandina Robbins
Rory Toomey: Architect, Australia
Sarah Bridges: Australia
Afaf Shehadeh
Sophia Hammoudeh
Liana Obeidi
Mohammad Abdlah Said Abdallah
Adwa Kamal
Osman M. Elkheir
Sulaiman M. Aqel
Fatimah Mohammed (Lifta)
Farhat Y. Muhawi (E1)
Brazilian Palestine Interest Committee (Lifta)
Nour Salman (Lifta)
M.J.Bissan
Heidi Splay
Anil Korotane, F.A.S.T
Alisar Aoun
Paul Ballora: Paul Balora Architects
Claudia Cleaver
Abder Ghouleh: USA
Damian Eckersley
Mohammad Odeh
Mariane Mathia
Hana Abdallah
Sulaiman M. Aqel
Mira Roses
Damian Eckersley
Mathew Bond, Australia
Goren Vodicka
Mohammed Hilala
Shirin Alqadi
Mohamed Hdaib
Sami B Suriyisami
Stephen Hyland: Planner PGDiptp MRTPI
Suhayla Odeh
James Charles Jameson: Australia
Anthony McCInneny
Tony Horan (E1)
Christopher Myles
Susan Bromley
Richard Buckley
Thomas Ableman
Caroline Weir
Robert Cunningham
Mary Emmerson
Nahida Yasin
Michael Iffrig
Christian Drinkwater, DLA Architects
Michael Praamsma
Uschi Jesson
Michael Thomas Bambrick
Paula McIlwrath
Barbara Crow
Kathleen Desmond
Yara Abdullah
Phil Henneman
Judith Jeffrey: Architect (retired), UK
Michael Bambrick
Thomas Adelman
Clare Holohan
Hussam Siam
Ken Taylor
Irmila Benner
Webb Wilber
Mada Al Carmel: Arab Centre for Applied Social Research
Anita Vitello
Khaled Azmi
Emad Salameh (Lifta)
Dean La Tourelle (Silwan)
Maya Pasternak
Ahmad Abassi (Silwan)
Micha Andreieff, Urbanist, Strasbourg, France
Gunter Schenk, IAPP, Denmark (E1)
Jean-Paul Francois Galibert, Rec. Honoraire P.T.T., Ancien Casque Bleu (E1)
Lois Swartz,(Lifta)
Nick Bourns,(E1), Melbourne, Australia
Adnan Harambasic, Architect, Norway
Rania Halawani (Lifta)
Hammam Farah (Lifta)
Tamara Tootasali
Hani Nasser
Rowiena J. (Lifta)
Keith Bennet, ARIBA
Corinne Bennett (E1)
Barbara Crow (E1)
Andrew Holohan (E1)
Paul Mclwrath, Belfast (E1)
Roseleen Walsh, Ireland (E1)
Liam Barr, Ireland (E1)
Tierna Cunningham, Ireland (E1)
Jack O’Neill, Ireland (E1)
Rolf Clayton (E1)
D. Alwan (E1)
Noor Maraqa
Yazan Salameh (Lifta)
Nabeha Bages-Zegar (Lifta)
Fabio Bagnara, Architect, Spain, Italy (E1)
Michel Iffrig (Lifta)
Nidal Jaber Saadeh, Dublin (E1)
Chrissie mhic giolla mhin, Belfast
Fra Stone, Ireland (E1)
Roger Higginson (E1)
Deletto Micsardi (E1)
Ghislaine Soulet (E1)
Dr.Issam Salameh (Lifta)
Mick Scott,Ireland (E1)
Ben Alofs (E1)
Wail Obeidi (Lifta)
Isabel Camacho Garcia, Architect,Spain (Lifta)
Ismail Atiyeh Ahmed El-Liftawi Jr. (Lifta)
Salma Salim (Silwan)
Philipp M. Rassman, Dep’t of Anth., U. of Washington (Silwan)
Walid M. Awad (Silwan)
Hadas Snir (Silwan)
Wail Obeidi (Lifta)
Basma Hanouda (Lifta)
Rebecca L. Stein (Lifta)
Nassab Ali (Lifta)
Samira Alostath (Lifta)
Princess Heba (Lifta)
Doa’a El-Batta (Lifta)
Heba R. Abed (Lifta)
Manar T’al Saleh (Lifta)
Lina Shaath (Lifta)
Salma Shaath (Lifta)
Shaimaa El Hissi (Lifta)
A.M.A Shimaa (Lifta)
Alaa Kishawi (Lifta)
Alaa Nizar Al-Kishawi (Lifta)
ياء م ى (Lifta)
Jass Men (Lifta)
Naala N.Ibrahim (Lifta, E1)
Reem J. Abu ell Khair (Lifta)
Faten Joma’a (Lifta)
Heba A. Alalawi (Lifta)
Nesreen Qdeh (Lifta)
Edwin Jay Rutledge, Architect,UK
Abeer Abu Haleep (Lifta)
Eman el Shegh Ghalel (Lifta)
Roaa Abu el Komboz (Lifta)
Hanaa Eldahshan (Lifta)
Monda Taleb Heriz (Lifta)
Rawan Jouda (Lifta)
Dr. Abdurahman Mohamed (Lifta)
Jan Jordaan (Lifta)
Kevin Ramzi Nasir
James Bowen: Str Engineer , Ireland
Sarah Khalid
Joanna Matos, France
John Dorman, RIAI, Ireland PSC
Alaa Mandoor (E1)
Shorouq Al Jabari (Lifta)
Lilian Morgan (Silwan)
Olive Isidro-Cruze (Silwan)
Christina Isorina
Margaret Morgan (Silwan)
Edwin Jay Rutledge (Silwan)
Neil Lambert, Architect (Silwan)
Naomi Wimborne-Idrisi (Silwan)
Deborah Maccoby (Silwan)
Ruth Tenne (Silwan)
Ibrahim Moss (Silwan)
Peter Halpin,Architect, USA (Silwan)
Edd Lawrence (E1)
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