Dr. Himmat Zoubi and Dr. Areen Hawari
Funding period: 1 January 2026 – 1 June 2026
Type of funding:
Seminar Series
Partner organisations: Mada al-Carmel – The Arab Center for Applied Social Research (Haifa) and the Master of Israel Studies Program at Birzeit University (Palestine)
Events: January 2026 (Haifa and hybrid), February 2026 (Ramallah and hybrid), March 2026 (Haifa and hybrid), April 2026 (Ramallah and hybrid), May 2026 (Haifa and hybrid), June 2026 (Haifa, Ramallah, and hybrid)
Lead organisers: Dr. Himmat Zoubi, Mada al-Carmel – The Arab Center for Applied Social Research (Haifa) and Dr. Areen Hawari, Mada al-Carmel – The Arab Center for Applied Social Research (Haifa)
Contact: Dr. Himmat Zoubi
Abstract:
This seminar series examines the destruction of Gaza through the concept of urbicide, which is the systematic erasure of the built environment and the social life it sustains, as a key tool of settler-colonial governance. Since October 2023, there has been an escalation in targeting homes, infrastructure, and civic institutions, turning into a deliberate strategy to dismantle the foundations of Palestinian life. Based on the work of Coward (2004), Graham and Marvin (2001), and Abujidi (2014), the project uses urbicide as a framework to understand both physical destruction and the fragmentation of social and political life.
While spatial control and fragmentation have long characterised the Israeli regime’s strategy toward Palestinian cities, the current destruction in Gaza calls for a deeper understanding of how urban space can become a political tool. This project explores theories of urban violence, settler colonialism, and spatial politics to analyse how destruction functions through military force, legal frameworks, planning policies, and reconstruction mechanisms.
A central concern of this project is post-war reconstruction as a mode of governance. Building on the work of Azzouz (2023), the series critically examines how rebuilding efforts often perpetuate violence by enforcing top-down, depoliticised approaches that marginalise local agency. The loss of homes in Gaza not only wreaks material destruction but also ruptures social cohesion, economic life, and intergenerational continuity. This series advocates for long-term, community-led recovery strategies that prioritise Palestinian voices and resist externally imposed models. It questions how reconstruction can serve both as a colonial tool of control and a potential site of resistance (Roy 2016). Using frameworks of transitional justice and “comparative urbanism for hope and healing” (Kusiak, Azzouz, 2023), the project connects cities like Beirut, Sarajevo, and Nahr al-Barid. This approach provides insight into how cities that have experienced extensive violence can reclaim space, preserve memory, and rebuild community through recovery efforts centered on local agency.
What forms of justice and planning could enable a post-urbicide Gaza? How can reconstruction support Palestinian self-determination and liberation rather than ongoing domination? These are the urgent questions that lie at the core of this USF-sponsored seminar series.