"Palestinian architects are often asked to draw inspiration from the grand Islamic architectural tradition and the local cultural heritage, said Palestinian architect Omar Yousef, with a hint of sarcasm.
His local heritage is not the Alhambra palace or Istanbul mosques, but rather the crowded cityscale of Silwan, East Jerusalem, where he grew up, and Shuafat, where he now lives and works, he said. It is an architecture of chaos, crowdedness, instability, temporariness and destruction, improvised building additions and a separation fence. It is an architecture of discrimination, control and supervision." -- Haaretz