color me occupied:
spectrum of transitional occupation
columbia university, GSAPPspring 2016 seminar
a study exploring the complex system built behind classifications of Palestinian identities as they constantly circulate between that of the occupied, the refugee, and the dual citizen.
Green and yellow. In 1988, the distinction between both colors definitely mattered. Jordan has declared its disengagement with the West Bank, and so, the west no longer had an east, but a neighboring country where family members were separated by a bridge and a convoluted process of checkpoints and legal documents; green cards were assigned to Palestinians who resided within the West Bank, and so, their previous Jordanian citizenship and its accompanying rights were revoked. Palestinians who happened to reside within Jordanís borders at the time retained their citizenships, and were assigned yellow travel cards. Their claim to the Jordanian citizenry would be constantly challenged by arbitrary laws and regulations as a reminder to yellow card holders that they are precarious citizens subject to statelessness at any moment.
The cards prove useful in certain instances, not within Palestine, or the West Bank, itself, but at the crossing border between Palestine and Jordan, and within Jordan itself. At the main crossing, Allenby Bridge, a complex system of queues, delays, and one-way mirrored architecture is enforced on travelers, fi ltering them into lines categorized according to their place of residence or just mere location between the wars of 1948 and 1967. One element of a more intricate identifi cation system, the green-yellow cards are accessories that do not expire, much like the Palestinian ID. Yet they are constantly subject to the wear and tear of time, and the constant folding and unfolding of the Palestinian identity at border crossings, their creases and fading contradicting their perceived timelessness. An analogy that perhaps refl ects the occupation itself, these ëtimelessí objects become an extension of the identity of diaspora and imprisonment, owing their color and design to decisions made in the haste of war, a crumbling economy and displacement of families. Perhaps the best way the cards resemble the state of Palestinians is the unforeseeable temporality of their existence as contingent on whether the Palestinians are able to navigate the Jordanian/Palestinian border as self-governing citizens rather than occupied bodies.
The study explores the complex system built behind classifications of Palestinian identities as they constantly circulate between that of the occupied, the refugee, and the dual citizen. The architecture reinforcing this documentation is examined as a method to materialize these objects as owners of Palestinian bodies. The precarious status of the identities as they exist between borders is also reflected through the colors of green and yellow, and sometimes disappears as these colors also find themselves nullified by certain changes in policies and agreements. As the Palestinian bodies attempt to legitimize themselves as citizens of a land, the green-yellow cards become some of the most palpable evidences of challenging that very act.
research | mapping
studio: objects with adv. james graham
