Tracking The Urbicide in Gaza
Urbicide, as argued by Martin Coward, encompasses not only the physical destruction of buildings and infrastructure but also the resulting disruption of social and cultural networks, the displacement of populations, and the erasure of collective memory. The urban in this project is therefore understood as an all-encompassing, multilayered, and connected construct. In the case of Gaza, violence against the built environment is not a by-product of military action, rather urbicide manifests as a deliberate strategy employed by Israel to undermine the livelihood, the development, and the culture of the Palestinian people.
Gaza is a constructed “strip” that has been built since 1948 as an “exceptional” Palestinian territory which was controlled by the Egyptians and then the Israelis. The “strip” has merged historical cities with camps and agricultural lands around them into a spatial enclave where Israelis have confined many Palestinians. The densely populated urban environment of Gaza, including major cities and eight refugee camps, the largest of which is Jabalia, becomes both a battleground and a target where civilian infrastructure and residential neighborhoods bear the brunt of violence. However, the unfolding urbicide in Gaza is not an isolated event that commenced on October 7th. It is a severe eruption in the context of an unrelenting history of violence that has subjected Gaza to military occupation, blockade, siege, and repeated episodes of military rampage each of which has sought to squeeze life out of its civilian populations.
Over the past six months, the densely populated Gaza, which stretches over 365 km² with a population of 2.3 million, witnessed devastating military operations, leaving entire neighborhoods reduced to rubble and countless lives shattered. From airstrikes targeting residential buildings to artillery shelling tearing through streets, the urbicide in Gaza has inflicted immense suffering, exacerbated humanitarian crises, and displaced hundreds of thousands of families. At least 32,975 people have been killed, and nearly all of the population has been displaced. By February 29, 35% of total structures in the Gaza strip were damaged with 31,198 structures destroyed, 16,908 severely damaged, and 40,762 moderately damaged.
Those numbers show a massive increase in the total number of structures destroyed or severely damaged (48,106) compared to that in the sum of all four Israeli military operations between 2008 and 2021 (10,326), knowing that each of the previous campaigns was already globally denounced for the severity of the damage it inflicted on people and buildings. Gaza has thus been subjected to exceptionally violent and deadly assaults by the Israeli military. The campaign has systematically destroyed critical infrastructure such as schools, hospitals, archaeological sites to state archives, and even greenhouses. It has unmistakably embarked on a campaign of urbicide, a planned act of erasure and assault on the urban environment and all that it embodies: a sense of collective identity, community, and culture.
Related Readings
GAZA DESTRUCTION via SATELLITE IMAGERY
The destruction of Gazaʼs historic buildings
These are articles and essays posted during the week:
1] How China Works - China’s State-led Economic Development by 兰小欢 Lan Xiaohuan
2] An Analysis of America’s Strategy, Wang Jisi (王缉思), Jia Qingguo (贾庆国), Tang Yongsheng (唐永胜), Ni Feng (倪峰), Zhu Feng (朱锋), Xie Tao (谢韬), Da Wei (达巍) and Li Wei (李巍)
3] Stopping WWIII - Challenging NATO war machine expansion, Progressive International
4] China's growth strategy in the next industrial revolution, STORM
5] The Persian Gulf and the US-China Rivalry - ChinaMed Project
6] Low-income and emerging economies with hidden debts, STORM
7] MOMENTUM #194 and FRIDAY FILES 12/04/24
Kindly share this journal with your peers and to distribute articles therein to your diaspora communities.
in solidarity,