Societies under siege: Modern Urbanicide

Over the past four months I have had the honor of experiencing life, politics and  culture in two of the 20^th century’s iconic cities. I use the word iconic especially, as the suggestion of these two cities raises particular images in the mind of the reader; Sarajevo, whose bullet marred streets bare testament to a Thousand Days of merciless bombardment. Jerusalem, where ‘religious’ tourism is set against the backdrop of a securitized frontier town, partially segregated between a Palestinian East and a Jewish West. Both of these cities provide excellent case studies to the concept of the ‘modern siege.’

A siege is ultimately an attack on the material and mental will power of the people living in the city, I would like to focus on two aspects and discuss how they existed in Sarajevo and are present within Jerusalem. Firstly the concept of siege mentality, the feeling of isolation, helplessness and suffocation. Secondly Urbanicide, methodical destruction of buildings and infrastructure deemed crucial to the cultural and spiritual survival of the besieged. Why? Often these buildings are the corporeal manifestation of a society’s cultural and spiritual needs.  The aim of urbanicide is to apply pressure on the will of the besieged by creating a situation in which these psychological needs are physically denied.

When walking the streets you are reminded that the city of Sarajevo is no stranger to death: from the drunken, hurried shots of Gavrilo Princip that ended the life of Archduke Ferdinand in 1914; to the shooting of two female peace marchers at the hands of Serb snipers that signaled the start of the One Thousand Day Siege.

 

Looking up and viewing the surrounding hills, you really get a feel for just how vulnerable the city is and how exposed you are as a citizen. This intuitive feeling of dread, combined with the first hand stories of some of the people I met, painted a pretty accurate picture of what a modern day siege was like.

To me, this dialogue of a radio transmission between General Mladic and a Bosnian Serb Army (VRS) Colonel, best summaries the actions and intended consequences of the tactics employed against the citizens of Sarajevo:   

-General Mladic here.
    -Yes Sir.
-Don’t panic. What is your name?
    -Vukasinovic.
-Colonel Vukasinovic?
    - Yes Sir.
.- Keep the Presidency and the Assembly building under steady, direct fire and pound slowly in intervals until I give the order to stop.
-Target Muslim neighborhoods - not many Serbs live there.
-Make sure they don't get any sleep down there,
- Shell them till they are on the edge of madness.
    - Yes, no problem.

Realistically, I have no idea what the people of the city went through, but it is possible to comprehend how a siege mentality can be created and maintained. A group of men at the hotel helped me to understand and relate to some of their experiences during the siege, one recalled.

“They shot at everything, men, women with children, even the dogs. Sometimes they shot to miss, just to screw with your mind, to let you know that they had you in their sights and had decided to let you live, that feeling  that somebody is staring at you from the other end of a rifle, dictating whether you live or die, playing at God, that knowledge breaks you.” His final exclamation, coincided with the end of his cigarette, “from Olympic City- to this!, Is a terrible thing.”

As a Brit whose own Olympics started within less than a month, these words chilled me to the core.

Jerusalem is no stranger to sieges; Roman armies to Crusading Knights, Muslims and Imperial Britain, all of whom threw men against the walls of this City. But the majority of these events occurred centuries ago, then why do I still feel that here in Jerusalem, a society is under siege? For me, it is the Israeli attitude towards the Jerusalemites, primarily methods they use to demographically hinder the advancement of the Palestinian society. The VRS military leader; Ratko Mladic used shelling, here the Israeli authorities use a varied list of tactics, which include but are not limited to:

§                        House demolitions and the forced expulsion of its occupants.

§                        The restriction of movement of Palestinians from the West Bank   to Jerusalem and visa versa.

§                        Certain Palestinian neighborhoods and settlements are deemed out of the boundaries of the municipality, whilst Jewish ones are annexed to the Jerusalem Governate.

§                        The marginalization of the Palestinian economy through manipulation of taxation revenues, planning permits, and the non approval of zoning plans etc.

§                        East Jerusalemites are not given Israeli passports. They are entitled to a Jordanian passport and until they secure one, must carry separate travel documentation. They do have the right to apply for an Israeli passport, however this can lead to social and bureaucratic problems.

To me this is modern urbanicide, through denying a peoples’ economic, social and spiritual necessities, you reject their existence and you seek their destruction. As a General, Ariel Sharon, put this concept in better words than I. As a Prime Minister, he instigated this concept better than anyone.

“I know the Arabs. They are not impressed by helicopters and missiles. For them, there is nothing more important than their house. So, under me you will not see a child shot next to his father, it is better to level the entire village with bulldozers, row after row.” 

I have been here  for two weeks, but I am already drawing my own comparisons. The use of executive/judicial means to instigate demographic ends, was used as a tactic in some of the darkest days of twentieth century Europe. From the ghettos of Poland to the rape camps of Bosnia; the segregation and containment of societies whose only transgression was to exist, resulted in some of the greatest crimes against humanity. I do not wish to see these crimes repeated anywhere, especially here in Israel.

Damascus Gate

Starting out in Jerusalem- First impressions.

First Impressions: Overawed by the history of the place, which I wont go into too much, as various Wikipedia articles effectively summarise it far better than I. However there are aspects of the old and new city that are immensely powerful in prestige and beauty.

The Old City is amazing, I allowed myself to get lost and just wonder around for hours, imagining that I was some old pilgrim/ crusader- gawping at all the shops, towers and Gates. Be prepared to fight off the shop keepers, who will do anything to entice you into their shop, and then pounce on you- "Nice set of earrings, yes?? You have girlfriend yes?? You buy it for her, she will be happy......Have coffee and buy these (insert random piece of Holy Land jewellery) etc etc."

Amusing, but gets old quickly. One chap asked me to write the words GRAND OPENING on a piece of paper in his shop, which turned out to be a ploy to get me into said shop. Upon making it clear that I had no intention of buying anything, and turning my back I hear the sound of the paper being crunched and thrown in a bin.

The attraction that Jerusalem has to religious oddities. For example certain individuals/prophets/light-bringers that are currently residing in my Hostel.

East and West Jerusalem- Where is the dividing line, and what are the differences?

A breakdown of why the cost of living is so high in Israel, and what factors attribute to this. And what it could mean for the youth, Palestinians, and the state as a whole.

Bosnia '12

Just currently updating/ correcting my summary of my time in Bosnia this Summer. I'll be uploading a greater amout of text later on. But here is some of the shorter stuff I had to write as a summary for the group.

Bio-

My name is Ruaraidh (Rory) Stewart and I am from Chelsea, London. Currently I study at the
University of Leeds reading International Relations. I was educated at Wellington College (Berks)
where my curiosity for learning about different international politics and organisations was first
ignited. This wanderlust, stemming from my high school and university education, lead me firstly
to take part in the excellent GYC ‘12 delegation to Bosnia, but also to take a year out of university
to pursue work in Palestine. As of September 2012, I will be situated in East Jerusalem, where I will
have the fortune for working for an NGO known as the Palestinian-Israeli Journal, which primarily
deals at reconciliation between the two entities. I personally believe that the GYC delegation
has equipped me and educated me in ways that no library or doctorate paper could ever do. For
anybody who enjoys/wants to go out of their comfort zone, and experience the reality behind the
texts books & newspapers, sign up now.

Memorable experience-

The entire trip was an experience, therefore to narrow it down to one distinct thought or memory
is nigh on impossible. Or at least should be attempted by people who can better summarise than I.
However it is possible to look at some of the emotions that were brought to light by some of these
experiences. For me, upon reflection my number one emotion was sorrow. Sorrow for a beautiful
country, with a diverse range of cultures, peoples and history. That has been so marred by the
actions and orders of some of history’s most deluded and insane men. Sorrow for the people whose
country is fraught from within by inept Politian’s whose apparent goals are to intensify the ethnic
tension for their own political and personal goals, who feel the necessity to take a state owned
helicopter to grab a coffee, whilst failing to tackle the countries huge (Officially 40%) unemployment.
And finally sorrow for a country (that in my eyes) has been marred from outside, abandoned by the
international community as a whole, whose chant of “Never Again” is a reflection of their own policy
towards BIH, rather than the guilt ridden acceptance of their inability to act at the hour when the
persecuted masses of a divided country most needed that action.

Organisation Overview-

Atlantic Initiative:

 RUARAIDH STEWART

The meeting with the Atlantic Initiative organisation, this year lead by Maida Cehajic, was
thoroughly enjoyable and informative. One of the key areas discussed presented was looking at
precisely how the BIH security sector should be reformed in allowance to possible NATO and EU
integration. Maida pointed out that is required reforms not only within the army and police of the
country, but also on attitudes towards these structures and whilst many within the international
forum recognise the formation of the security sector within BIH as one of the great successes, much
more is needed to be done if the country is going to take the next step in becoming a region asset
for NATO and the European Union.

Ministry of Defence:

The meeting with the BIH Minister of Defence gave the group the much needed insight in to machinations of BIH politics and especially political attitudes
towards NATO and other neighbouring states. On top of this, the Minister demonstrated that
it was possible for a female to succeed in the world of Bosnian politics, which provided further
food for thought for the delegation, and perhaps dispelling some of the groups presupposed
concepts of Bosnian politics/ politicians. Most interesting perhaps was how the Bosnia ministry/
security, was able to educate other states military personal in inter-ethnic violence and post conflict
reconciliation. Whilst BIH contributions to conflicts such as Afghanistan are small, it was hinted that
its present in these regions was along the lines of this work.

Below are some of the photos from the trip. I will be adding more, along with some dialogue about them in the future. 

Tiger Hug.

Got sent this photo by a family friend working out in Africa. Enjoy

Re-Reading Tolstoy; decent quote.

"Why did millions of people begin to kill one another? Who told them to do it? It would seem that it was clear to each of them that this could not benefit any of them."