UK-based Architects for Gaza has written an open letter to RIBA demanding it table a resolution to remove Israel from the UAI and publicly condemn the destruction in Gaza.

The letter, which was addressed to Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) president Muyiwa Oki and the RIBA council on June 9, asked the institution to “take a position regarding genocide, urbicide and ecocide in Palestine”.

Architects for Gaza is inviting architects to add their signatures to support the letter.

“It is high time to make a clear stand”

Within the open letter, Architects for Gaza outlined a series of actions that it would like to see RIBA take in response to the ongoing war in Gaza, which it described as “an architectural and urban crime”.

“The RIBA must not stand aside while the destruction of human life, history, and habitat continues with impunity,” wrote Architects for Gaza in the letter.

“There is no neutral position; it is high time to make a clear stand.”

Among the demands is for RIBA to table a resolution calling for the suspension of the Israeli Association of United Architects (IAUA) from the International Union of Architects (UIA).

This would be a repeat of actions taken by RIBA in 2014 when its elected council members voted to ask for the suspension of the IAUA on the grounds that members were complicit in construction of controversial settlements in the West Bank.

“Silence is no longer defensible”

Following a change of RIBA president and the resolution attracting criticism from leading architects, the institution later overturned its own motion.

“Ten years later, the situation is far worse – and silence is no longer defensible,” wrote Architects for Gaza in the letter.

“What Israel is carrying out in Gaza and the West Bank is not simply warfare. It is genocide, ethnic cleansing, urbicide, scholasticide, and ecocide – designed to erase an entire people and their place from the landscape.”

Numerous organisations now consider Israel’s actions genocide, with the UN Special Committee releasing a report in November 2024 stating that Israel’s warfare in Gaza “is consistent with the characteristics of genocide”. In December 2024 an Amnesty International investigation concluded that Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.

However, Israel claims its military activity in Gaza is justified and has repeatedly denied that it amounts to genocide.

Letter calls for RIBA to “publicly condemn Israel’s destruction”

Israel launched its military campaign in response to Hamas’ deadly attacks on 7 October 2023, in which around 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage. The BBC reported that Gaza’s health ministry puts the total death toll from Israel’s war on Gaza at 54,470.

Architects for Gaza also called for RIBA to “publicly condemn Israel’s destruction of Palestinian homes, cities, infrastructure, and heritage”. At least 92 per cent of housing in the region has been destroyed or damaged, according to the United Nations.

Among its other demands are for RIBA to boycott UK firms working in the occupied territories and to ban “funding, partnerships, or collaborations” with Israeli state institutions and companies “complicit in the occupation, colonisation, or ongoing erasure of Palestinian life and architecture”.

RIBA has not yet responded to Architects for Gaza and did not respond for a request for comment before publication.

Read the full letter below:

Dear president Oki and RIBA council,

For the past 18 months, Gaza has endured one of the most destructive military assaults in modern history – entire cities reduced to rubble, all life destroyed or displaced. Homes, schools, hospitals, universities, cultural heritage sites, and basic infrastructure have been systematically and intentionally obliterated. This is not only a human tragedy – it is an architectural and urban crime.

In 2014, the RIBA passed a resolution calling for the suspension of the Israeli Association of United Architects from the UIA. That position was later withdrawn, under pressure. Ten years later, the situation is far worse – and silence is no longer defensible.

What Israel is carrying out in Gaza and the West Bank is not simply warfare. It is genocide, ethnic cleansing, urbicide, scholasticide, and ecocide – designed to erase an entire people and their place from the landscape. We remember that it was Britain that established the Balfour Declaration to create “a Jewish homeland”, without consulting indigenous Palestinians. While Britain held the Mandate until 1948, many eminent British architects – including RIBA members – helped to build the infrastructure for a future Zionist State in Palestinian cities and towns.

Architects for Gaza is a UK-based collective of registered architects, planners, educators and academics, with an international base of members. As Architects for Gaza, we call on the RIBA to act in line with its own ethical codes and those of the UIA and the UN Charter.

The RIBA must not stand aside while the destruction of human life, history, and habitat continues with impunity. There is no neutral position; it is high time to make a clear stand.

We recognise that demands – rather than suggestions, requests, entreaties or appeals – are not to be made lightly. Yet with the faith we place in the RIBA as the sole charitable advocacy body for our profession, we feel emboldened to state the following:

We demand that the RIBA:

Publicly condemn Israel’s destruction of Palestinian homes, cities, infrastructure, and heritage – acts of genocide and war crimes that violate every principle of architecture and planning.

Reinstate and expand the 2014 resolution calling for the expulsion of Israel from the International Union of Architects (UIA), this time naming the state of Israel due to its horrific genocide and war crimes in Gaza and the West Bank — using urbicide, scholasticide, and environmental destruction – breaching every one of the ethical and professional codes of the UIA, the UN Charter, and a long list of UN resolutions.

Adopt a boycott position against UK firms and institutions participating in the design, planning, or rebuilding of projects in illegally occupied territories, unless it is to support the rebuilding of destroyed homes, refugee camps, and villages destroyed by Israel and the illegal settlers.

Support and amplify Palestinian-led and international reconstruction efforts, including initiatives such as Architects for Gaza, centring Palestinians’ needs, leadership, and vision.

Divest and refuse funding, partnerships, or collaborations with Israeli state institutions, or international firms complicit in the occupation, colonisation, or ongoing erasure of Palestinian life and architecture.

Commit to transparency: disclose RIBA’s financial and institutional ties, if any, with companies, organisations, or donors linked to Israel’s military-industrial or settler-colonial infrastructure – and divest from them accordingly.

All this would conform with the RIBA Charter to pursue the interests of architecture and humanity.

We would be glad to discuss this indivisibly professional and humanitarian concern with you. We appreciate your kind confirmation of receipt for this letter, as a matter of courtesy. With gratitude for your consideration and every hope of your response.

Comments have been turned off on this story due to the sensitive nature of the subject matter.

The post Architects for Gaza demand RIBA call for an “expulsion of Israel” from International Union of Architects appeared first on Dezeen.