In this poignant essay, Nadi Abusaada grapples with the inadequacy of architectural, planning, and sociological language to fully convey the depth of trauma in Palestine.
After examining the violence and segregation at the core of Israel's identity and its jarring incongruity with Palestine's rich historical openness, he affirms our moral duty to think about reconstruction, and to do so by engaging with the land's history and its people. It's not only about rebuilding houses; it's recognizing that any attempt at a genuine restoration is contingent on reckoning with deeply racist global political, social, and economic structures that perpetuate this oppression.
في مقاله المؤثر، يتطرق ندي أبو سعادة إلى عجز مفردات العمارة والتخطيط وعلم الاجتماع عن تصوير عمق الألم والقهر الذي يعيشه الشعب الفلسطيني.
بعد الكتابة عن الدمار المستمر والعنف المتجذر اللذين يشكلان هوية إسرائيل وتناقضها التام مع التاريخ الغني والانفتاح الثقافي لأرض فلسطين. يؤكد أبو سعادة على وجوب التفكير في إعادة بناء غزة, وفعل ذلك بطرقٍ تتجاوز البُعد المادي لتشمل الأبعاد السياسية والاجتماعية والاقتصادية العالمية، مشددًا على أن أي محاولة للإصلاح الحقيقي يجب أن تواجه هذه الهياكل الداعمة للقمع.
"The past three months have shaken the world order. Gaza, that ancient city on the eastern shores of the Mediterranean, has come to be the political and moral compass of the entire world. Despite the pervasive destruction, Gaza stands not as a place in need of lessons. Instead, it is itself the poignant lesson of our modern age – a litmus test for humanity. As the death toll continues to rise, it becomes increasingly challenging to conceive of a violence more profound than that inflicted by machine guns and aerial bombardment. However, Israeli colonial violence – both in Gaza and Palestine more broadly – has historically manifested at various scales. It extends from the confines of a bedroom to encompass a neighbourhood, a whole city, and stretches to the scale of a regional geography.
"Understanding the destruction of Gaza calls for a dual perspective. It requires zooming in on the intimate scales of violence while also being aware of these broader manifestations. At the core of Israeli colonialism in Palestine is the logic of partition, a paradigm fundamentally at odds with the land, its people and its history. Gaza has long been a nexus of interconnected worlds: for millennia, it served as a vital crossroads, connecting Palestine to Egypt and bridging the continents of Asia and Africa. The roads from Gaza to Bir al‑Sabe’, Jaffa and Jerusalem have witnessed the passage of visitors, merchants and pilgrims from diverse corners of the world. The city’s social, cultural and economic prosperity has been woven into its geographical openness, a defining feature in Palestine’s long history. Any thought about Gaza and Palestine’s future is bound to reckon with this history."