Is the World Blind: Two more families lose their homes in East Jerusalem today

Merijn De Jong, Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD)
www.icahd.org/eng/news.asp?menu==5&submenu==1&item=$6

Two more families in East-Jerusalem lost their homes today and another two families had their belongings thrown out into the street as a new wave of house demolitions swept through Dahiat Al-Salaam and Silwan.

In Dahiat Al-Salaam in East-Jerusalem, the Hannafiya family’s home was demolished at 9:30 this morning. Eight people were made homeless by the demolition because their house did not have a building permit. The Jerusalem municipality makes it nearly impossible for most Palestinians in East Jerusalem to receive building permits.

As the children of the family gathered their toys from atop the rubble that was once their home, the homeowner spoke of his son who will soon return from the United States to get married: “How do I explain this to him when he gets back, that the house is not there anymore?”

The two Hamdan brothers, who live with their families down the street from the Hannafiya family, had all of their belongings taken from their homes in preparation for demolition. While the family’s attorney, Sami Arshid, was able to stop the demolitions from taking place through a court order, most of the family’s belongings were severely damaged by the workers who removed them from the home. Needless to say, there will be no compensation from the municipality for the damage; and while the demolitions were postponed today, the homes are still at risk for demolition in the future.

The mother of one of the families, whose belongings were thrown into the street, showed us around her home. “Is the world blind?” she asked, as she displayed the now ruined pictures that had been drawn by her son.

After the demolition of the house in Dahiat Al-Salaam, another home was destroyed in Ein Luze, near the El-Bustan area in Silwan. The recently completed home belonged to the Musa Siam family who had yet to move in. When the bulldozers were unable to reach the house, the municipality sent workers to demolish it by hand.

Village Demolished

Khirbet Tana, near Beit Furik, Nablus

On July 5th, Israeli forces demolished the entire village of Tana, near Beit Furik, Nablus. The residents had received one day’s notice (via a piece of paper left outside one of their dwellings) that their homes were to be demolished. The villagers knew no-one to call; thus, the razing of their homes went ahead unhindered. The UN estimates 170 persons have been “displaced”, the villagers say Tana was home to about 100 families. The villagers intend to protest this destruction and reclaim their land this Thursday 14th July.

Tana is a small farming village in the Jordan valley in one of the longest continually inhabited areas of the world. Residents say the area is mentioned in the holy books and was known 3500 years ago. The village mosque, the only structure not to be demolished, has stood for several hundred years.

The paper announcing the demolition says that the villagers had built their homes without Israeli permission. Their caves and stone constructions are hundreds of years old. In recent years they have added steel and concrete structures to the front of their caves. A school house was built six years ago and, contrary to the UN report, this too was destroyed last week. When the army destroyed the village they demolished not only the steel structures but the caves themselves and even the villagers’ cars.

In 1989 the villagers had a court case in Israel, after which they were told they would be allowed to farm the western portion of their land. In recent years the villagers have also been threatened by settlers from Itamar, who came and swam in their water supply.

The villagers are not defeated and refuse to be intimidated. They intend to go back to their land, rebuild their homes and continue farming. International and Israeli activists supporting this action will assemble in Beit Furik at Beit Furik Municpality at 10am, Thursday 14th July.

For more information on Tana see Beit Furik Village’s website at: www.beitfurik.levillage.org/journal

Update on Ramzi Yassin of Bil’in from Muqassed Hospital

Ramzi Yassin was shot in the head with a rubber-coated steel bullet by an Israeli soldier at a protest in Bil’in on Friday July 8. Ramzi has been unconscious and in serious condition since then. He was transferred from a hospital in Ramallah to Muqassed Hospital in Jerusalem where his family is unable to visit him because Israeli authorities will not issue them a permit.

Today Ramzi has regained consciousness and has even taken a few steps and eaten on his own. He is still groggy and in pain, but the doctors say he should be home within two weeks.

Shop flattening scheduled by illegal expansion

Eight shops next to the Israeli Chemical factory built on land stolen from Tul Karem municipality are scheduled to be destroyed in fourteen days. Built in 1996, and owned by Ali Qasim, the shops have been closed since September 2000 due to IDF operations including gunfire, rendering the village unsafe.

Seventeen propriotors received notices on a piece of paper written in Hebrew and in Arabic that the building would be destroyed. The paper stated that they had three days to respond.

A group of IDF soldiers in Jeeps pronounced on a notice building that the shops would be destroyed. Proprietors were informed that their buildings are illegal because they are not registered with a municipality.

The owners however, have written proof of registration and proof that they have been paying taxes to the Tul Karem Municipality.

Emmatin protests agianst ‘Ariel finger’

Thursday, July 14th at 8am, the people in Emmatin along with neighbouring villages, will hold a direct action against tree demolition and the Annexation Wall. Meeting at the Municipality, they will be joined by Israeli and International activists.

This meeting follows a passive demonstration held last thursday in which eight people were injured.

Last week, over 600 olive trees were uprooted by Israeli bulldozers. Their aim is to prepare for the building of the Annexation Barrier in an area only 500 meters from homes within Emmatin.

Emmatin is a village located between Qalqilia and Nablus, and surrounded by the Israeli settlements of Qedumim and Immanuel.

The Wall being built in Emmatin is part of the `finger’ that will surround the illegal Israeli settlement called Immanuel.

It was reported in ‘Ha’aretz’ that the Ariel finger will be connected to the southern part of the Salfit Wall near Abud and that the northern finger will be connected to the Wall somewhere near Qalqilia.

If the Wall in Emmatin is built, the village will lose 2000 Dunams of it’s agricultural land. Currently, farmers face a daily struggle to access their land.