Last month, the United Nations signed a deal with IUAV University of Venice, designating the university as responsible for rebuilding postwar Gaza. Sufian Mushasha, head of development policy and advisory services for the United Nations Development Program, traveled to Venice to meet with IUAV Dean Benno Albrecht.
The UN chose IUAV in part due to its long experience in postwar reconstruction and its ties to the Middle East. In 2017, the university developed a plan for reconstructing Syria and graduated five Palestinian architects, including Sandi Hilal, a recipient of the prestigious Golden Lion Architecture Award.
Rebuilding Gaza will be a massive undertaking since the ongoing war has destroyed 60% of the buildings in Gaza, produced 1.2 billion cubic feet of rubble, and caused an economic loss of $7 billion, according to IUAV’s data.
“Since there is nothing left in Gaza, we propose a bottom-up approach,” Albrecht told The Media Line. “We will start from a constellation of tiny cells to work better from the basis and create, afterward, a bigger urban plan.”
He said that local businesses will take part in the reconstruction, providing good jobs for Palestinians in Gaza. After the project is complete, locals who worked on it will also have cutting-edge job experience they can use to find work abroad.
“We could use off-grid and waterless materials, and if this works smoothly, it could be an example for the entire world since Gaza will be the first model,” Albrecht said.
The reconstruction is meant to be self-sustaining financially, he noted, but it will require time and money upfront. The UN is currently assembling a list of donor countries, which may include Israel.
“This won’t be a Marshall Plan with a lot of money to be invested since the goal is to create a self-improving process that will rely on locals and their factories to reach autonomous economic growth,” Albrecht said.
Plans ready to be 'implemented immediately'
He said that the first stage of the plan is ready to be implemented immediately.
IUAV’s plan describes itself as part of a peaceful solution of “two states for two peoples.” However, some students and professors have criticized the plan, claiming that it ignores the role of Israel in causing Gaza’s destruction.
A permanent assembly for Palestine on campus, supported by several students and professors, has made its dissent clear, setting up tents on campus and organizing pro-Palestine initiatives. The activists accuse IUAV of maintaining ties with Israel and serving as an accessory to its actions.
“It is not fair to talk about reconstruction because they are not speaking in the document about what has been ongoing in the past months and for whom they are reconstructing,” Yannick, a Dutch graduate student at IUAV, told The Media Line. “The ideology of coming up with a new proposal is as much a colonization as forcing architecture implementation on land. I think that these are not the right people to discuss what must be done there. The first step the university should take is to hold the ones responsible for this genocide.”
Albrecht opted not to comment on the protest other than noting that the school asked the activists to respect the law.
Daya, an Israeli student at IUAV, expressed her concern that the project could promote a biased narrative of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
“The idea of planning to rebuild and propose also sustainable tools is amazing because after the destruction this is a necessary step,” she told The Media Line. “But if those who coordinate this project will teach the students a one-sided narrative of things and not portray the complexity of the area, well, this may be a huge problem.”
Albrecht is concerned about a potential flare-up of antisemitism on campus. A study by the Union of Young Jews in Italy found that 71% of Jewish university students in Italy feel unsafe expressing their Jewish identity on campus.
“We are intolerant against any kind of intolerance,” Albrecht said.
Yannick said that accusations of antisemitism are made in bad faith. “Antisemitism has been used as an excuse by Jews to point the finger against those who have been demonstrating for the rights of the Palestinians and have been demanding the end of the genocide,” he said. “If you protest against the brutal actions of Israel, it doesn’t make you antisemitic.”
Daya, on the other hand, described an antisemitic atmosphere at IUAV.
“Many people claim that they are not against Jews but against the actions of Israel, but 95% of Jews are Zionists because they believe that Jews should have the right to a state,” she said. “I feel antisemitism overall. I have friends who have tried to put posters of the hostages around the university, but they were taken down the day after. I don’t want to be a target by trying to show public solidarity with Israel. Even if it is a minority, only one person could cause harm. Currently, I don’t feel safe.”
Giorgia Valente is a recent graduate of Ca’ Foscari University of Venice and an intern in The Media Line’s Press and Policy Student Program.