Tag: Idhna

Young family threatened by house demolition

8th April 2014 | International Solidarity Movement, Khalil Team | Idhna, Occupied Palestine

After just three weeks in their new home, the Slemiah family from the village of Idhna have received a demolition order from the Israeli army. The newly built house is on land which has been owned by the family for centuries, and the family has now been forced to pay large sums of money to organise many legal documents for the upcoming court hearing.

Wesam Slemiah (28), Ansar (22) and the children Line (2) and Laith (4) live in the outskirts of the city of Idhna, west of Hebron in the West Bank. Wesam borrowed money from his cousin to be able to build the house, and the land he was buliding on has been owned by his family for many years. Shortly after moving in, they received a demolition order from the Israeli army saying that the land did not belong to them. This is something that also has happened to many of their neighbors in the past six years.

In order to prove ownership of the land, the family has had to pay large sums of money to different authorities. Altogether, the costs exceed one month of income for the family. They now have all the papers necessary to prove their ownership, and on 24th April their documents will be taken to a court for further decisions.

During the last six years, two houses in the area have been demolished. The families usually have to pay the charges for the bulldozer to destroy their homes. If they do not have the money, Israeli forces confiscate their ID’s to force them to pay. This has happened to a neighboring family to the Slemiah family, their house has been demolished twice. Partly with money from the UN, that family managed to rebuild their house, a project which ISM took part of, and today their third house is still standing.

As well as demolitions orders that are extremely costly when the case goes to court, many structures used to house sheep and other animals have also been demolished by the Israeli military. Residents in the area also speak of night raids from the Israeli army, and reoccurring harassments that are making everyday life extremely difficuly. The house raids have been occuring in the village since the start of the First Intifada [1987].

Wesam has been forced to stay home from his job since the demolition order arrived. The Slemiah family is worried about what will happen to their new home, and are frightened that the Israeli army could arrive at any moment. When an ISM activist asked Wesam and Ansar what they think of their future, they answered: “There’s an occupation here, what can we do?”.

Idhna: Family faces a third home demolition by Israel

by Sunny

8 May 2012 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank

On Monday, May 7 in the southern West Bank village of Idhna, Mohamed Temezi was busy working on his caravan home. Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) arrived unexpectedly and subjected him and his wife Faizah Temezi to a 3 hour ordeal in which they were detained, and beaten. Their new home was threatened with demolition.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) provided the caravan for the Temezi family. They have experienced house demolitions on two previous occasions by the IOF. The first demolition was in 1989 and the second 5 months ago in December 2011. Both took place in the West Bank village of Idhna. Prior to the arrival of the caravan, Mohamed, Faiza, and their son had been living in a tent.

Now the Temezi family may be facing the loss of a third home. Israel issued a demolition order for their caravan dated May 29, 2012.

Currently, Mohamed is subject to weekly visits by the IOF, threatening that if he does not cease building his home that they will forcibly confiscate it. Mohamed tells the IOF that he will rebuild his home if it is destroyed. Their reply, says Mohamed, is that they will simply demolish it again.

The Temezi family complain of regular harassment and taunting during the weekly Israeli army raids.

On Monday, 8 soldiers arrived at Mohamed’s caravan site and threatened him with arrest if he continued to build. Mohamed refused to comply and was detained alongside his wife, inside the caravan.

During the detention, they were both physically and verbally assaulted. Mohamed was struck by a soldier’s personal radio on his scalp on various occasions while being verbally assaulted. At one point, Faizah attempted to safeguard their electric motor which Israeli soldiers were attempting to confiscate. IOF responded by wrapping cable wire around her neck and forcefully pushing her head into the wall.

As the violent behaviour continued, the Israeli soldiers seized all remaining tools in the house as well as 300 metres of cable which the family required for electricity. There has been no electricity in the house since.

After 3 hours, as soldiers left, they again threatened Mohamed of the consequences of continuing his work. The equipment the IOF stole from Mohamed is valued at some 7000 NIS (approximately 1420 Euros or 1830 USD). Among the equipments seized are those required for access to the sewage system.

This is the first time that OCHA has supplied displaced Palestinians with caravans. The project has also assisted three other families in the valley of Idhna. OCHA also supplied Mohamed with two workers and 41,000 NIS for equipment to construct access to basic amenities such as water and electricity.

OCHA have been informed about the incident, however action has not been taken.

Mohamed has been held under administrative detention (no trial, no charge) on 7 occasions for a total of almost four years. The Temezi family say they fear this visit was not the last, and that they do not want to lose their home a third time. This unwanted prospect may become reality on May 29.

Sunny is a volunteer with International Solidarity Movement (name has been changed)

Idhna: A family without windows

by Peige

12 March 2012 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank

After three years of marriage Amani and Hussein Batran wanted a house of their own, somewhere to raise their two children, 4 year old Khalil and 3 year old Layali. They took out two loans from the bank and construction began. Now, three years later, the house is still unfinished and no new work has been done for over a year. One year ago, shortly after the Batran family moved into their nearly finished house, they received an order from the Israeli military forbidding further construction, followed seven months later by a demolition order. The reason given is that their house blocks the view of a camera mounted on the illegal segregation wall Israel has constructed inside of the West Bank.

Without windows in Idhna – Click here for more photos

The sight of glass-less windows and wires protruding from half-sanded walls speaks of dreams put on hold, a family living in limbo. The Batrani family has endured the bitter cold of this Palestinian winter with only plastic sheets covering their windows. The Israeli government considers installing glass a violation of the order to halt construction. Violating the order means risking imminent demolition of their home, so the family must make do with the inadequate plastic sheets.

They know their fate will likely be the same as Ahmed Jeyowi and his family, whether or not they obey the order to halt construction. Jeyowi’s home was demolished last month when around 50 Israeli soldiers stormed the house at 6 AM whilst Ahmed was drinking tea and preparing to work his land. The soldiers forced Ahmed’s wife and six children from their beds and gave the family no time to salvage their possessions before they demolished their home.

Ahmed has since been forced to send his wife and children to live with other family members whilst he lives on the ruined site which once was his home, now replaced by a tent provided by the Red Cross. Ahmed is left with no heating or lighting, no gas, no toilet, and insufficient bedding.

Idna has suffered considerably since the Israeli occupation, particularly due to the construction of the segregation wall and the theft of some 3,000 dunums of land since the second Intifada. Idhna is surrounded by the Israeli settlements of Adora and Telem to the northeast, a bypass road that runs through the northern parts of the town, and the segregation wall that borders Idna to the north and the west. There are currently 40 homes in Idna with demolition orders.

Paige is a volunteer with International Solidarity Movement (name has been changed).

Idhna: Tent replaces home as local resists illegal Israeli land confiscations

by Sylvia

16 February 2012 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank

Idhna has suffered considerably since the Israeli occupation, particularly due to the construction of the segregation wall and some 3,000 dunums of land which has been stolen since the second Intifada. Idhna is surrounded by the Israeli settlements of Adora and Telem to the northeast, a bypass road that runs through the northern parts of the town, and the segregation wall that borders Idhna to the north and the west.

According to municipal officials, twenty water sources have been isolated or destroyed in Idhna.

Ahmed Jeyowi spent three years in prison after his involvement in the Intifada resisting illegal Israeli occupation in Idhna. He has since been blacklisted and is not allowed a permit to work in Israel, and so he is expected to live from what he can cultivate from his land, which is now destroyed by the Israeli military.

Ahmed owned two houses before 1988, when Israeli forces demolished his first home. His second home was demolished last month when around 50 Israeli soldiers stormed the house at 6 AM whilst Ahmed was drinking tea and preparing to work his land. The soldiers forced Ahmed’s wife and six children from their beds and gave the family no time to salvage their possessions before they demolished their home.

Ahmed has since been forced to send his wife and children to live with other family members whilst he lives on the ruined site which once was his home, now replaced by a tent provided by the Red Cross. The tent is far from withstanding the cold weather conditions, especially as it is forcasted to snow at end of this week. Ahmed is left with no heating or lighting, no gas, no toilet, and insufficient bedding.

When presence is resistance - Click here for more photos

Everything the family now owns fits into a small compartment of the tent. Due to the imposed water limitations and the demolishing of two local wells, Ahmed is forced to visit the ruins of the wells in the middle of the night to collect his water. One year ago Israel issued Ahmed with an order to either demolish his home, or be sent a bill for the procedure. He had taken the issue to Israeli court but the house was demolished before a decision was reached.

Israel began demolishing houses in Idhna in 1967, and it is thought that at least twenty homes were demolished following the second Intifada. Ahmed estimates that by 2010 some twenty wells had been destroyed in the town. Most recent was a functional ancient Roman well of which the municipality had the lease. Furthermore, waste water from neighboring settlements has polluted what is left of Idhna’s water supply. The water is needed both agriculturally and domestically.

A number of agricultural roads have been closed or destroyed in Idhna, making the harvest of crops difficult. Olive trees have been uprooted and various field crops and grazing lands have been destroyed. In terms of education, restrictions on mobility has made reaching schools difficult. Students are forced to travel an average of six kilometers to get to their schools.

Idhna currently has forty houses with demolition orders placed on them. These families will undoubtedly be greeted with the same call at 6 AM and left with only a tent to shelter them from the weather. Ahmed is now seeking a gas heater and a weather worthy tent. He is afraid to leave the ruined site of his home in case Israel confiscates his land.

Sylvia is a volunteer with International Solidarity Movement (name has been changed).

Idna family charged by Israeli military for “demolition services”

10 December 2011 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank

Over two weeks have passed since the El Gelwe family’s home was demolished. They remain homeless and are currently living in a tent which was provided by Palestinian neighbors in the village of Idna, of the Hebron Governorate. The family’s tent is erected just meters away from the pile of concrete that was once their home. It undoubtedly represented so much for this family.

Saving just to be demolished - Click here for more images

The father, Jamel was visually broken as he stated, “Someone saves money their whole life and they come and demolish it.”

This home was the family’s first house and within minutes the Israeli army turned their dreams in rubble.

On the 24th of November the Gelwe family received a visit from the Israeli military “demolition services.” As is common practice in house demolitions, the Israeli military arrived in the village of Idna at 5:00 in the morning. The family was still asleep and thus in a vulnerable state. They were not given any time to save any of their property. Their house was demolished along with all of their possessions. Jamel tried to reason with the soldiers to allow them to keep their water well, but that just resulted in the soldier ordering him to move away. The family was forced to watch everything they ownedcrumble to the ground. Now they have no clothing, food, or water and with no justifiable reason as to why.

One can only conclude that the timing of these raids is a strategy used by the Israeli military to create as much terror as possible, in addition to the destruction. The family never received a demolition notice: this visit was a complete surprise to them. After living in the house for a few months they were notified this past May to stop building their house. Not only was the house already built, but the land is in Jamel’s name. The land has been passed down to the Gelwe family for generations. It is the only land they have left after the Israeli Army stole 47 dunums of their land to build the Apartheid Wall.

During a recent visit to the family it was clear to the ISM activists that this experience has caused significant emotional trauma to the family. The children were obviously distraught and scared of their bleak future. As with many Palestinian families there is little or no regular income

Just to ensure that the family adequately suffered from the experience of having their home destroyed, the Israeli military charged the family 2,500 NIS for their “demolition services’. If the family fails to pay, their fifteen year old son will be imprisoned indefinitely until they pay the fine. Not only were the Gelwe’s human rights violated, but they must pay for this abuse.

Over the last few weeks there appears to have been a significant increase in the number of house demolition orders being served and homes being demolished. The reasons for this increase are currently unclear, but one thing is certain: illegally destroying the homes of Palestinian family’s in the West Bank is not about the security of Israeli citizens. With the onset of the winter season it is inevitable that the suffering of the homeless will be more severe during this period.

Now the family is left with nothing, but they question. “Where are we going to go now?” asked Jamel. “We are thrown into this tent and tomorrow it will rain, then what?” The family of 15 is sleeping outside during the cold winter night for the 20^th consecutive day.