CMES Seminar: It’s Time to Think About the Future of Palestine\Israel

From Separation to a Shared Homeland: Paradox (and hope) of Settler-Colonial Urbanism in Israel\Palestine

This presentation will discuss settler colonial urbanism(s) in Palestine\Israel, while exploring the different spatial and political typologies developed during the last few decades. It will discuss how colonial planning has been used as a tool of social, demographic, and spatial control and how Palestinian claims for the right to the city are meaningful political forms of protest. The presentation will refer to Palestinian cities (such as Lydda) that were transformed into “Jewish-Arab mixed cities”, to new “Jewish cities” that are going through a process of “Arabisation”, to Jerusalem as a neo-apartheid city, and to the current spatiocide of Gaza. The main argument to be articulated in this talk is that moving from the paradigm of separation into a shared homeland is the only sustainable approach which will lead to a shared future.

The Future of Palestine: Gaza War and its Aftermath – Challenges and Future Scenarios
The ongoing Gaza conflict has triggered an unprecedented humanitarian and urban crisis across the Palestinian territories, with over 60,000 deaths—more than half women, children, and older people—and vast destruction leaving entire cities without any basic public services and infrastructure. This presentation examines the war’s humanitarian, political, and economic repercussions for Gaza, the West Bank, East Jerusalem; explores post-conflict scenarios for Palestine, Israel, and the wider region; assesses reconstruction barriers and international responsibilities; and evaluates the war’s implications for regional cooperation and long-term peace prospects, integrating spatial planning, governance, and geopolitical perspectives to outline pathways toward possible future scenarios for recovery, resilience and statehood.

Biographical notes

Haim Yacobi is a Professor of Development Planning at the Bartlett Development Planning Unit. With a background in architecture, he specialised in critical urban studies and urban health. Between 2006-2007 I was a Fulbright Post-doctorate fellow at the Center for Middle Eastern Studies, University of California, Berkeley, and then joined the Department of Politics and Government at BGU. For the years 2010-2012 he received a Marie Curie Grant which has enabled him to work at Cambridge University, where he conducted a research project that dealt with contested cities. The main issues that stand in the core of his research interest in relation to the urban space are social justice, the politics of identity, urban health, and colonial planning. In 1999 he formulated the idea of establishing "Bimkom – Planning in Human Rights" and NGO that deals with human rights and planning in Israel\Palestine and was its co-founder. Currently he holds (together with Prof Omar Dajani) a UKRI ESRC grant: “The Shared Homeland Paradigm: Reimagining Space, Rights and Partnership in Palestine-Israel”.

Rami M. Nasrallah is an urban planner and the Founder and former Chairman of the International Peace and Cooperation Center (IPCC) in East Jerusalem. From 1999 to 2023, he led major strategic initiatives on urban rights, inclusive development, and spatial planning in collaboration with UN-Habitat, the EU, and international NGOs. He holds a Ph.D. in Urban Planning from TU Delft. His planning work includes the Spatial Development Strategic Framework for Jerusalem Governorate 2030, Area C Outline Plans for 78 villages, advocacy planning for 12 Palestinian neighborhoods in East Jerusalem, the 2050 Strategic Plan for Palestine–Israel, and numerous revitalization and public space projects across East Jerusalem and the West Bank. Dr. Nasrallah is an Associate Professor (Hon.) at UCL’s Bartlett DPU since 2023 and has held affiliations with Cambridge University, and the National University of Singapore.