Article ID Journal Published Year Pages File Type
5048374 City, Culture and Society 2013 11 Pages PDF
Abstract

Current Israeli Palestinians' claims to the city, as translated into urban forms and politics, are examined in the context of the urban-rural dichotomy that has played a major role in the construction of Palestinian identity. The paper considers this divide, analyzing meaning and content in a situation in which a Palestinian urban neighborhood represents an “Arab village”, while a former European agricultural settlement becomes the center of a flourishing Palestinian urban culture. This inversion infuses the history of urban form with a new ethno-cultural meaning, representing a hybrid notion of urbanity. The paper considers this hybrid city-village reality within the contested environment of Israel/Palestine, and examines the potential of the built form for upholding the cultural meaning and authenticity that sustain ethno-national aspirations. The findings suggest interpretations and uses that negate unilateral understanding of the urban-rural divide.

► Current Israeli Palestinians' claims to the city are examined. ► The urban-rural divide that has predominated Palestinian identity construction is questioned. ► The inversion of meaning and content in two urban neighborhoods is analyzed. ► The inversion infuses the linear history of urban form with a new ethno-cultural meaning. ► Hybrid urbanity of multiple interpretations and uses negate a unilateral urban-rural divide.

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