From counter-maps to counter-evidence: Hebron Rehabilitation Committee's documentation as counter-archive

The Hebron Rehabilitation Committee (HRC) has developed a 'counter-archive' that challenges Israeli settler control and documents the built heritage of Hebron’s old city, Palestine. This archive functions as a dynamic tool—serving as counter-maps in engineering contexts, counter-heritage when digitized for advocacy, and counter-evidence in legal proceedings—to assert Palestinian presence and ownership. The study highlights how the HRC's documentation adapts to different uses, defying the boundaries of traditional 'imperial archives' and playing a critical role in preserving heritage under militarization. By examining the archive’s multifaceted functions, the research underscores its potential as a bottom-up architectural media that resists hegemonic settler narratives.

Abughannam, R. (2026). From counter-maps to counter-evidence: Hebron Rehabilitation Committee’s documentation as counter-archive. Perspectives in Architecture and Urbanism, 100101. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pau.2026.100101