ACAP held its 11^th Annual Land and Housing Conference on April 19, 2011 at the Rimonim Hotel in Nazareth.  For the past 10 years, ACAP has held an annual conference each year, dealing with different planning subjects and fields, depending primarily on what activities we are implementing at the time.

This year, the theme of the annual conference was “Planning in Arab Townships:  Tools for Building or an Excuse for Demolition?”  The conference lectures focused on how the new reform in the planning law affects house demolitions, new plans, demolition and status of the unrecognized villages in the Negev and mixed cities, and how the new reform could serve as a potential opportunity for making positive changes.  The conference was implemented under the framework of the EU project:  Promoting Equality in Planning for the Arab Minority through Due Representation in State Planning Institutions, which is in partnership with Mossawa Center.

The conference began with opening remarks from Mr. Raja Khoury (ACAP’s Administrative Manager), Mr. Ja’far Farah (Director of Mossawa Center), Ramez Jeraiysi (Mayor of Nazareth) and Mr. Mohammad Zedan (Head of the Higher-Up Committee on Arab Affairs).  The first session of the conference was facilitated by ACAP’s urban planner Mrs. Enaya Banna-Geries, in which lectures were given by MK Dr. Hanna Swaid, Advocate Kaes Nasser, and Ms. Bothayna Dabit.  The second session was facilitated by Mr. Nidal Othman from Mossawa, in which lectures were given by Advocate Awni Banna, women’s activist Hanan Al Sane3 from SIDRA, and Dr. Awad Abu Krea.  There were 120 individuals that participated, including planners, engineers, mayors, representatives from municipalities, NGO representatives, Knesset members, students, and media representatives.