Acknowledgments

A great many people worked, in one way or another, to varying degrees and at different times, to put this Registry together. 

First of all, we thank Sida, The Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency, which has been generous with its consistent assistance for the project since 1995. Sida’s financial, moral, and scientific support and its assistance in overcoming technical obstacles and bringing in experts, all greatly helped in the success of this vital project. During the same period, the Rockefeller Foundation provided generous support. During the project’s initial pilot period in 1995, the Canada Fund provided the needed support (with the registration of the City of Ramallah). All deserve out gratitude.

We cannot thank enough Mr. Baha' Al-Ju'beh for the great effort he exerted over the last years: editing and classifying the information, extracting the tables, writing the reports and the technical introduction, and supervising the completion of Riwaq’s Registry in its final format.

We also thank Mr. Naseer Arafat who worked on the Registry Project at Riwaq for several years and invested his time and effort in developing it and in leading the fieldwork teams.

All who worked at Riwaq during the past ten years have in one way or another been involved in developing this Registry. We mention in particular Khaldoun Bshara, Dr. Khulood Di'aibes, Chrissie Gale, Farhat Yousef, Fida' Touma, Muhannad Hadeed, Yara Shareef, Harbi Daraghmeh, Maha Al-Samman, Firas Rahhal, and Rawan Sharaf.  Dr. Muhammad Abu Al-Haija supervised the fieldwork in the Gaza Strip.

and many individuals were responsible for data entry, Hiyam Rihan, Ghada Al-Umary, Hala al-Masri, Khalid Al-Hantuli, Fatin Owais, Manal Al-Khatib, Norma Nassar, and In'am Al-Hantuli. Awni Al-Shawamreh wrote a number of reports, Abdel Rahman Abu Shamaleh edited the Arabic text, and Khalil Touma translated the Arabic text into English. We thank all of these individuals for their assistance.

We are grateful to all the students of architecture, who worked with us between 1995 and 2001, from Birzeit University, Al-Najah National University, the Islamic University in Gaza, the Polytechnic University in Hebron, and others for their valuable assistance without which we would not have been able to accomplish this difficult task. They managed to reach almost every ancient building all across Palestinian cities and villages, traveling under the most difficult circumstances and moving under the most dangerous conditions. Unfortunately we cannot list them here individually, and we hope that they consider these words of thanks and appreciation to be directed at each one of them personally.

We would not have been able to draft and finalize the maps without the much appreciated support of the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, the Palestinian Geographic Center, and the Ministry of Local Governments.

We extend our sincere gratitude to the various municipal and village councils for their support and the interest they demonstrated throughout this project. More than 50,000 Palestinian families throughout the cities and villages readily cooperated with us, providing information about their homes and welcoming us with open arms and a constant flow of coffee and tea; we thank them all.

We are indebted to the Palestinian Economic Council for Development and Reconstruction (PECDAR) and to its director, Dr. Muhammad Shtayyeh, for sharing with us the results of a project which was executed for the benefit of the Ministry of Culture, and the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, and which we at Riwaq herewith include in this publication. We thank the Welfare Association for including the information concerning Jerusalem’s old city, which we compiled on their behalf, as well as the old city of Hebron’s Rehabilitation Committee. To all of them, our thanks and gratitude.

 

Nazmi Al-Ju'beh

Suad Amiry