It is with great sadness that IGU mourns the passing of a much loved colleague.  Itzhak Schnell was full professor in the Department of Geography and the Human Environment at the Tel Aviv University. His research specializations included social space, notably spaces of human activity in a global reality and minority group inclusion, Arab citizens in Israel, Arab economic entrepreneurs and foreign workers; the Israeli landscape and its representations in literature, art and maps as political and ideological expression; and the study of the urban person’s exposure to environmental constraints and to the healing power of effective green areas. Yitzhak Schnell has published several books and about 150 academic articles. He has served as president of the Israeli Geographical Society and represented the National Academy of Science at the World Geographical Society, alongside senior positions at Beit Berl College.

Itzhak was member of the Sikkuy-Aufoq association. Sikkuy-Aufoq is a shared Jewish and Arab nonprofit organization that works to advance equality and partnership between the Arab-Palestinian citizens of Israel – descendants of those who remained within the Israeli borders after the founding of the state in 1948 – and the country’s Jewish citizens. Since its founding in 1991, Sikkuy-Aufoq has sought to bring an end to the longstanding discrimination and ongoing inequality between these two groups and lay the foundation for a truly shared society.

When he organized the Tel-Aviv IGU Regional meeting in 2010, some colleagues who had called to boycott the conference but this totally ignored how far Itzhak spent his energy to organize this meeting with Palestinians and Arab colleagues. In the end, the Palestinian geographers could not participate because of their own authorities. Prior to the meeting, he guided several of us in a wonderful field trip in Galilee and the north of Israel, where he lectured on the mosaic of Druze, Arab, Russian cities and Kibbutzim, heritage and new towns. In Roch Hanikra (the border between Israel and Lebanon), he greeted our Lebanese colleagues who could not join us.

Itzhak attended the IGU Urban Commission meetings where he was always encouraging and supporting colleagues.  A great humanist,  we lost a lovely colleague and friend, a wonderful person of peace.

Celine Rozenblat
University of Lausanne

Some other tributes:

I am very sad! Itzhi was a very good friend of mine. He served as Comb Steering, an effective, outstanding scholar who very friendly and closely helped in COMB building community. He left Urban Commission despite a high position there because COMB needed people with a profile of both high level of scholarhip and open heart and mind.
Itzhak Schnell was a member of the VII FP Medchange which I coordinated 2012 2014. He was an outstanding scholar in empirical research also developing new methodologies, marvelously informed of both qualitative and quantitative methods as well of the frontier of knowledge. Itzhi has been a real innovator, anticipating many scientific trends at the intersection of different specialties: one of them for all, many years ago, the Mediterranean urban climate with new on field methodologies for investigating this important issue.
He achieved with his team brilliant results in developing new concepts and measurements in ethnic, minorities and mobility studies.
I am very sad but I feel blessed for having being a Colleague and friend of such a brilliant scientist, very decent human being, committed person for an important issue!
My heartiest condolences to his family and Israeli geographical community.
Maria Paradiso, IGU Vice-President
I fully appreciate your warm and appreciative words in memory of Yitzhak Schnell. The entire Israeli geographic community appreciates him, his work and his contribution to the Israeli and global geographic community. I had the privilege for several years to work and research with him. I learned a lot from him during this time.
I sent your message to his family. I also sent it to the presidency of the Israeli Geographical Society asking them to spread it among our geographical community.
Thanks again for your kind words.
Michael Sofer