“During the British Mandate the purchase of land in Palestine and the Jewish migration in groups increased, and continued until the declaration of the Israeli state in 1948. It paved the way for many other detailed ideas, plans and implementation through different means, including extensive use of military power and violence.
I will talk briefly about Jerusalem now. As you know, several planning schemes were proposed, starting with Mclean 1918 [plan], and then the 1919 Patrick Geddes [plan], and the 1922 [plan], the 1930 [plan], and ending by the Henry Kendal’s 1944 [plan]. Despite some differences, all have proposed the development and the proposals for networks of roads in the western side of the city, concentrated open spaces, public parks; and restricted areas in the eastern part of the city. Outside old city walls the urban patterns that developed were diverse and influenced by the the centralized planning approach. Lands were bought by Jewish organisations and urban ideas designed by architects influenced by the modern European movement rapidly developed. A trend clearly called for in the Hertzel pamphlet. For Geddes, Jerusalem was an integral part of Jewish heritage, and developing plans to protect this heritage was of ought most importance… Crookston emphasises that planners were Jewish immigrants- and most planning staff in district commissions- employees already were Jewish, not Arab. This again shows the binary of making the Zionist dream a reality while making Palestinian reality a nightmare towards elimination… And if we look at Jerusalem today, we see how these plans influenced planning with Israeli settlements.. the play with “ideal ideas” to achieve power, domination, and control within a colonial context, to use the urban dimension within the British and the Zionist spheres, until the British [retreated] and announced the Zionist state.” [59:45]
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