Jerusalem stone is a type of limestone that have been used in building since ancient times and became a symbol of jewish identity.
Municipal laws in Jerusalem require that at least 70% of the buildings be faced with local Jerusalem stone.
Today, the business of quarrying, cutting, fabricating and dressing is the “Occupied Territories” largest private employer and generator of revenue, and supplies the construction industry in Israel.
Gradually between 1994 and 2012, Israel refused to issue permits to almost all Palestinian quarries, but still allowed 11 quarries of Israeli settlements in the West Bank, despite the fact that this exploitation of resources in occupied territory violates international humanitarian law.
Outlawing the Palestinian quarries means that they operate without any regulatory oversight on environmental aspects, land preservation, air pollution, labor safety and rights or product quality.
The stones of historic Palestine, and Palestinian labor, have been used to build the State of Israel and became a political tool in the local landscape.
We decided to model a part of Jama’in, a village and quarry in the West Bank. The Foam-carved model shows the anomaly of the living areas in the man-made landscape.