Urbanization, particularly in terms of private housing construction, constitutes a mounting threat to cultural heritage sites in Palestine. At risk are not only archaeological sites, but traditional architecture and other locations of cultural heritage. The Ramallah province serves as a practical case study by which to examine how this process of urbanization affects the cultural heritage of the region, because of the increased rate of development the province has experienced over the past decade. This urbanization has proceeded with relatively little governmental oversight and administration by the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) and is typified by an absence of planning, which often places sites of cultural, historical, and archaeological significance in severe jeopardy. This article considers both the internal and external factors affecting the urbanization of Ramallah and proposes solutions to mitigate the dangers to cultural heritage posed by unchecked urban growth.Urbanization, particularly in terms of private housing construction, constitutes a mounting threat to cultural heritage sites in Palestine. At risk are not only archaeological sites, but traditional architecture and other locations of cultural heritage. The Ramallah governorate serves as a practical case study by which to examine how this process of urbanization affects the cultural heritage of the region, because of the increased rate of development the governorate has experienced over the past decade. Since the establishment of limited Palestinian administration of the West Bank and Gaza Strip through the Oslo Accords of 1993 and 1995, the

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• We present a tribute to our late colleague Anna Dvorak, featuring elements of her last (unfinished) manuscript. • We incorporate an examination of critical GIS education in the age of corporate story-telling. • A case study of Anna's engagement in environmental justice illustrates GIS advocacy through critical GIS education. In honour of our lost colleague Anna K. Dvorak, we draw from elements of her last unfinished manuscript to explore new directions in critical GIS education and practice. Anna was a recent PhD in Geography hired into a critical GIS tenure-track position. The ways in which she wove GIS practice through her research interests, teaching sensibilities, and community advocacy experiences defied easy categorization; we argue she represents a new generation of geography graduate student who is redefining where and how critical GIS education occurs. Anna's social and environmental justice work with the Pacoima Beautiful non-profit organization in southern California formed the basis for an ongoing research initiative that gave her the opportunity to experiment with GIS as advocacy tool in the hands of local high school students. At the time of her death she had completed an initial draft of a manuscript situating this work in broader community activism issues. We remember Anna by presenting large sections of her work unaltered, interwoven with our commentary on the significance of her approach to critical GIS in a time of shifting academic and corporate commercial relationships to the technology.

[in focus, place, Israeli‐Palestinian conflict, graffiti, solidarity, social justice, Israeli Separation Barrier]

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