Articles

Interview

On the fortieth day since the martyrdom of journalist Amal Khalil: An interview with her about the South and its lands

In her home in Bayssariyeh, Amal welcomed us on February 28, 2019. She was the one speaking, and we were the ones asking questions about the South, its people, and its problems.
On April 22, 2026, while doing the same thing—telling people about the South and standing against the erasure of memory and land—Amal was killed in an Israeli airstrike that targeted her several times.
As part of a research project on the agricultural plain in the Zahrani region, we had observed changes in land ownership, and wanted to understand the reality of these ownership structures and their implications.
Below are the words of the martyred journalist Amal Khalil about the Zahrani Plain.

Article Law Commentary

A Proposal to Address Building Collapses:

Filling the Legal Void Does Not Replace the State 

Building collapses in Lebanon are no longer isolated incidents, but the result of a long accumulation of neglect and the state’s retreat from its responsibilities toward public safety. The latest draft law proposed by deputy Ihab Matar seeks to establish a mechanism for addressing structurally damaged buildings by organizing roles and relying on incentives and private financing rather than developing a comprehensive public policy. Yet when rehabilitation is tied to economic feasibility and investment opportunities, the question remains: what kind of city is being shaped, and for whom is it being rebuilt or renovated?

Research-Based Article

2024–2026: Israeli Bombardment of Tyre: Where and What?

Extracted from a wider research conducted by Public Works Studio, this article analyzes the Israeli aggression against Tyre City between October 2023 and April 2026, framing it as a systematic “urbicide” executed through the issuance of evacuation orders, the destruction of dense residential-economic clusters, and the deliberate dismantling of social ties.

Research-Based Article

Kfarkela, Southern Lebanon: Stories of the Land and Its People Facing Erasure

بلدة كفركلا هي بلدة جنوبية حدودية تشتهر بأراضيها الخصبة وأشجار الزيتون، إضافةً إلى علاقاتها التاريخية مع القرى الفلسطينية المجاورة قبل فرض الحدود الاستعمارية الحديثة. واجهت البلدة والقرى الحدودية في جنوب لبنان اعتداءات إسرائيلية منتظمة منذ عام 1948. ومع بدء الحرب الإسرائيلية على لبنان في 8 تشرين الأول 2023، تعرضت هذه القرى لإبادة بيئية ومكانية شملت القصف والتفجير والحرق واستخدام الفوسفور الأبيض، إضافةً إلى إعاقة العودة وإعادة الإعمار. ورغم غياب الدعم الرسمي، يبادر السكان عبر جهود جماعية ومبادرات محلية للحفاظ على صمودهم وعلاقتهم بالأرض واستمرارية الحياة فيها.

Research-Based Article

Eviction in Wartime: A Reading of Old Rent Eviction Verdicts

This article explores how courts in Beirut and Zahle selectively applied an inapplicable law to fast-track legally preventable evictions, while disregarding the consequences for old-rent tenants in a country already overwhelmed by war and displacement.

Research-Based Article

Is there anything left to say about Hayy el Tanak?

This article looks at Hayy el Tanak in Tripoli, not as an example or proof of randomness or disorganization, but rather as a question about the meaning of a neighborhood; for the neighborhood is not a product of chance or an architectural sin. It is, in fact, a testament to the architecture of exclusion.

Research-Based Article

The Reconstruction Framework scheduled for discussion in the government: We still have a lot of work ahead of us

Critiquing the government’s “Reconstruction Framework”, this article exposes a narrow technical approach that reduces cities and villages to figures and compensation, while overlooking vital sectors and issues. The text calls for imagining a comprehensive recovery that goes beyond addressing the aftermath of war to encompass the form of urban justice we strive for.

Research-Based Article

Tripoli or the city that falls apart piece by piece

Buildings are falling apart in Tripoli, not haphazardly, but as a logical result to the city’s policies vis-a-vis old buildings. This article presents PW’s analysis of the underlying reasons, and proposes steps for a better and fairer management of the situation.

Research-Based Article

Urbicide as a strategy: The southern suburbs of Beirut between the attacks and the urban fragmentation

Amid rubble and a fractured social fabric, Beirut’s southern suburbs bear the scars of the Israeli war, which struck homes, markets, schools, and hospitals. Drawing on data, maps, and local testimonies, the article documents the scale of destruction and raises urgent questions about urban justice and the future of the city’s reconstruction.

Investigation

Where is the Fund? On old tenants’ struggles with applications to the rent support fund

Field documentation reveals how misinformation and discretionary practices in public administrations have blocked old tenants from applying to the rent support fund and protecting their housing rights.

Investigation

Removing encroachments from the Litani riverbed:

Water protection is a priority, but who protects the housing rights of the refugees?

The text reviews the Litani River Authority’s removal of what it classifies as “encroachments” along the river and the resulting pressures on Syrian displaced communities in the Beqaa. It highlights the tension between protecting water resources and safeguarding the housing rights of vulnerable groups.

Investigation

The State’s Limited Role in Reconstruction and Its Submission to the Discourse of Inaction

Despite the government’s repeated rhetoric about its commitment to reconstruction and recovery, and the emergence of what appears to be a comprehensive plan, its efforts remain delayed, limited, and fragmented. They rely almost entirely on external loans and grants amid weak local financing, reflecting the absence of an effective, long-term national vision and a surrender to the discourse of state incapacity.