Abstract
An introduction to the recent history of Jerusalem, underscoring the role of cartography. Here, I explore how maps have been used to support the Zionist project, both symbolically (by presenting Palestine as a land without a people) and materially (by facilitating military expansion and civic administration). I also highlight key technological and social transformations undergone by cartography in recent decades. While it would be naïve to think new technologies make maps any less political, my argument is that—in Jerusalem as elsewhere—there is a need to investigate their characteristics and effects. Do web maps ‘repackage’ the same substance in a new form, or do they bring about genuine change, for better (more democratic) or for worse (less transparent)?
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- 1.
I use the term Israel/Palestine to refer to the areas on which Israel was established in 1949 (sometimes termed ‘Israel proper’), the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. As will become clear, one of my arguments is that the boundaries between these areas are blurrier and more dynamic that lines on a map tend to imply. With the phrase Israel/Palestine, I intend to emphasise this fuzziness, rather than present my account as ‘balanced’ or neutral.
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Carraro, V. (2021). New Mapping Technologies, Same Old Politics?. In: Jerusalem Online. The Contemporary City. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-3314-0_1
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