A month has passed since we gathered for the Closing Dinner of the 7^th ICCG. The five days (six nights) of our conference were transformative for many of us. They left us with memories, mini-epiphanies and much learning to process and integrate. After a month of travel, reflection and rest it is time to consolidate and carry the insights into our work as scholars, teachers and change makers. 

Critical geography did break limits this summer. Crossing the wall to meet in Palestine placed us in the crosshairs of spatial contention. Holding our sessions in Ramallah’s community spaces broke the institutional mould. We engaged and bore witness to the violent realities of Israeli occupation as we kept our sights trained on continuities and contests in other parts of the world. Embodied and landed violence of colonial, settler colonial and gender-race-sexual oppression moved to the core of our analysis alongside systemic productions of capital and space. Together we pressed and created a new paradigm for critical geography that radically expanded the founding vision of the International Critical Geography Group (ICGG). 

You, the conference participants -- presenters, volunteers, staff, community partners and supporters -- made the conference into a substantive and successful collective project. We graciously accept your many thanks for our work but return them to you tenfold. The time we spent together in Palestine was unique because of your critical contributions, good faith, openness and political commitment. 

We heard from many of you that you found this conference to be a great experience. Yet, we want to get close up and personal to hear your feedback, suggestions, constructive criticisms or complaints. To this we have created an online form (check the link below). This is not just a random evaluation sheet that will end up in the bin but rather our way to make the next conference even better. We do not want just constructive critique we also want to turn this into a participatory exercise to collectively think about radical ways of bringing theory and praxis together in ways that create a friendly working space geared towards action. So please consider taking some time to consolidate our efforts and make the next ICCG conference a memorable event! 

Ideally we would like to start processing the information by the beginning of October so that we can inform the steering committee and adopt decisions accordingly. So we would highly appreciate it if you are able to fill this form by end of September 2015.

For those of you who are considering writing and those who did write longer accounts about the time at the ICCG 2015, we are very happy to read your written reflections and have them placed on the conference website. Please send those to our e-mail [log in to unmask] and do include links to blogs, reports and other online posts. This page should be online in a couple of weeks.

LINK to an article by Lisa Tilley, “Fragments from a Critical Geography Conference: ICCG Ramallah, July 2015“: 

The ICCG 2015 had 288 speakers; an estimated  additional 150-170 audience members over the span of the event; 18 field-trip guides; 15 volunteers; 4 technical teams of 2-14 persons; 12 local and international supporting institutions; 10 Organization Team members and many good friends. In all we surpassed our targets with over 400 participants, 20% of whom were Palestinians. We need to improve in this area and find ways to increase local participation at future ICCGs.

Four ICCG 2015 participants have reported to us that they were turned away by Israeli authorities: two at Ben Gurion Airport and two at the Allenby Bridge. We are also aware that at least ten additional registrants were unable to attend due to denial of Visa by Israeli authorities and/or webs of obstacles against entry to Palestine facing holders of particular nationalities e.g. Egyptians. If you yourself were denied entry or know of persons who suffered this please let us know by writing to [log in to unmask] . 

LINK to Ståle Holgerson’s blog on being denied entry:

In the ICGG Open Meeting on the second day of the conference the Organizing Team of the ICCG 2015 presented a draft for the resolution “Forging Solidarity, taking a stand on Palestine”. The debate on its concepts expanded through the larger frames of the plenaries that took place on each of the three following days: “Dreaming a Common Language: Making Race, Sexuality and Gender Matter in Critical Geography”, “Building Transnational Solidarity: Palestine, BDS, and Beyond”, and the closing plenary “Moving the Signposts: Critical Geography as a Politically Engaged Decolonial Discipline”. The latter was followed by the final activity of the conference, the second ICGG Open Meeting in which the resolution was voted in favour of by vast majority, and with the support of all members of the ICGG Steering Committee.

We are planning to release this resolution at the end of September along with a list of endorsements from fellow geographers who were not in Ramallah. Our next News Brief will have information on how you can get involved in the BDS/ PACBI working group and a PDF version of the resolution for your reference and if you wish to circulate. 

We took the liberty to add you to our mailing list to keep you informed of future ICGG/ICCG related matters. We promise not to spam you but in any case you are welcome to unsubscribe by following the link indicated below. Otherwise, please save the mailing list address to your contacts so it does not land in your Junk or Spam boxes.

LINK to un-/subscribe:

Although the ICCG 2015 took place a month ago, the post-conference work of wrapping up and following up on matters conceptualized during and related to the conference continues. We’ll keep you posted through announcements on our webpage and News Briefs as they are completed and come online.

Those of you who participated in the field trip to Nablus and Wadi Qana on Tuesday 28 July may remember Atef Sa’d as one of your guides.  We are sad to report that Atef suffered a heart attack and passed away on Thursday 30 July 2015. 

LINK to a short tribute to Atef Sa’d that our team put together:

We at the ICCG 2015 are grateful for having had the opportunity to get a glimpse of this eloquent debater and equally saddened by the thought of the moments that could have been, the lost narrations that he took with him, and the fact that we have not properly thanked him for the time he dedicated for us. We will remember Atef Sa’d with these words of imagination and adventure that he wrote in a short article about the dangers and limitations of being a journalist in Palestine. He wrote:

To be a journalist in Palestine means to walk under the rain without wetting your shirt!

Is that possible?

Could be yes or no. Either way, it is a challenge that should be tested.

Atef Sa’d, 2 May 2015

[1] “To be a Journalist in Palestine…!”,  Wattan News Network, http://www.wattan.tv/ar/news/131946.html

    

Please post your condolences on the ICCG 2015 website, on this page: http://iccg2015.org/in-memoriam-atef-sad/ 

If you have any pictures with Atef Sa’d in them, please send those to [log in to unmask] 

We will compile these and have them delivered to his family.

To all those of you who made it to Palestine and those whose support made this possible: thank you for making the 27-month adventure worthwhile!

Yours,