RIBA is the national professional organisation of British architects.
Its council met on 19 March and passed a motion proposed by Angela Brady,
former president of RIBA and backed by Architects and Planners for Justice
for Palestinians (APJP). The motion was agreed by 23 to 16 with 10 abstentions
after a heated debate. RIBA is the first UK professional association
ot take action against Israel for its breaches of international law.
Since the Israeli Association of United Architects (IAUA) has
paid no regard to the UIA resolution 13 of 2005 and 2009, the RIBA calls
on the UIA, as the international guardian of professional and ethical
standards in our profession, to suspend the membership of the Israeli
Association of United Architects, until it acts to resist these illegal
projects, and observes international law, and the UIA Accords and Resolution
13.
Resolution 13 stated:
The UIA Council condemns development projects and the construction
of buildings on land that has been ethnically purified or illegally
appropriated, and projects based on regulations that are ethnically
or culturally discriminatory, and similarly it condemns all action contravening
the fourth Geneva Convention.
Abe Hayeem, Chair
of APJP, presentation to RIBA council
APJP Press Release
Israeli
architecture association faces ban from international forum –
Guardian