We began this publication as a group of students heartbroken by the mass killings of Palestinians and the incredible destruction of Gaza by the Israeli apartheid state. We were deeply frustrated by the silence around us at the Rice School of Architecture as we watched these atrocities unfold across our screens. The issue was quietly deemed too controversial to talk about, or too distant to care. As students we felt the need to break this wall of silence, bringing together student voices to talk about the issue and to learn from one another. As architecture students, we believe that it is urgent to discuss the instrumentalization of architecture for racialized oppression and settler colonial violence, both in Occupied Palestine and across the globe. It is well within our duty in the profession to build for life and denounce death, to build for permanent and sustainable solutions, ones that are equitable and just for all. We refuse the weaponization of our profession and call for action.
Only by allowing these difficult conversations into the school and the architecture profession can we begin to address not only the violence-feeding mechanisms within the field, but also proposals of new modes of thinking and practice to aid in the liberation of Palestine, Congo, Sudan, and beyond. And as human beings, we believe that it is fundamental to cultivate compassion into a global culture and encourage world-wide activism in resistance against the silencing and ethnic cleansing of Palestine, both in face of the catastrophic emergencies of Gaza and West Bank and denouncing colonialism as a long-term mission. Starting at the school of architecture, we trust that our solidarity with students across disciplines will form an olive branch that reaches through the smoke to touch the clear blue sky.
For this issue we gathered contibutions from students at Rice University as well as students from other schools to reflect a wider view of how students are processing these harrowing events and building solidaity at a global scale. In spite of efforts to silence student voices across universities, we hope this issue inspires more open dialogue within the Rice School of Architecture and beyond.