Tag: Eviction - Page 23 - International Solidarity Movement

Zero Palestinian Evictions, now!

The inhabitants’ associations, international networks, voluntary groups, NGOs, public agencies, citizens of the world, express their indignation at and denounce Israel’s continual policies of eviction and demolition carried out against the Palestinian people, both Palestinians ’48 (citizens of Israel) and Palestinians ’67 (in the Occupied Palestinian Territory).

The Israeli Ministry of the Interior demolishes hundreds of homes of its own Palestinian citizens every year due to zoning and planning schemes intentionally insufficient for the needs of the communities. There are, in addition, dozens of villages not recognized by the government whose residents live in the constant instability that comes with pending eviction and demolitions. These evictions and demolitions are carried out under the pretense of “upholding the law” despite being in violation of international laws.

The Municipality of Jerusalem, the Civil Administration and the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have demolished over 24,000 Palestinian homes in the Occupied Palestinian Territory since 1967 under pretenses of “upholding the laws” of zoning and planning (administrative), as collective punishment (punitive), and during military and “land-cleaning” operations. The administrative and punitive demolitions are clear violations of the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949 and the IDF itself found that it would be “very difficult to justify from a legal perspective” much of the destruction carried out in the December 2008 and January 2009 attacks on the Gaza Strip. These three institutions also coordinate or facilitate the takeovers of Palestinian lands and houses by Israeli settlers in violation of international law.

The demolitions and evictions clearly violate the following international laws and covenants ratified by Israel:

The Fourth Geneva Convention Relative to the Protection of Civilians During Wartime (articles 53, 147) (1949)
The International Covenant Against Torture (art. 16), despite the Concluding Observations of the CAT (2002)
The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (art. 11), despite the Concluding Observations of the CESCR (2003)
The Convention on the Rights of the Child (art. 27), despite the Concluding Observations of the CRC (2002)
The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (articles 7, 12, 17, 26), despite the Concluding Observations of the CCPR (2003)
The International Convention on Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (art. 14), despite the Concluding Comments of the CEDAW (2005)
The International Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination (articles 2, 3, 5), despite the Concluding Observations of the CERD (2007)

Therefore the inhabitants’ associations, international networks, voluntary groups, NGOs and public agencies, have decided to launch the Zero Palestinian Evictions Campaign, Now!

Please subscribe to the solidarity call now!

INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY CALL
ZERO PALESTINIAN EVICTIONS, NOW!

We, inhabitants’ associations, international networks, voluntary groups, NGOs, public agencies, citizens of the world, express our indignation at and denounce Israel’s continual policies of eviction and demolition carried out against the Palestinian people, both Palestinians ’48 (citizens of Israel) and Palestinians ’67 (in the Occupied Palestinian Territories). These demolitions and evictions clearly violate international law.

Therefore, we condemn these violations and appeal to:

The Government of Israel:

To immediately cease the demolition the homes of Palestinian citizens of Israel and, as an Occupying Power, the homes of Palestinians in the Occupied Palestinian Territories;
To integrate zoning and planning practices that suit the cultural and economic needs of all its citizens into national plans;
To comply, as the Occupying Power, comply with the Fourth Geneva Convention and end the collective punishment employed through punitive demolitions;
To end the occupation and withdraw from occupied Palestine instead of defending the status quo by using military actions that destroy thousands of homes, wreck havoc on the local urban infrastructure and greatly conscribe the future potential of Palestine;
To end the evictions and settler takeovers of houses and land in East Jerusalem, Hebron and throughout the Occupied Palestinian Territory;
To end the confiscation of land from Palestinian citizens of Israel;
To provide immediate reparation, including restitution of property, return of displaced persons, compensation, adequate alternative accommodation, rehabilitation, apology and guarantees for non-repetition to all the inhabitants, including tenants, affected by the demolitions who have lost their accommodation and/or personal belongings in the process, and who have become homeless and/or jobless as a result thereof;
To provide a forum where the Governments of Israel and occupied Palestine, all the interested parties, including the recognized representatives of inhabitants’ associations, international networks, NGOs and public agencies, can agree with the interested communities on alternatives to the evictions, demolitions and land takeovers, and on the repatriation of people already evicted.

The United Nations, Russia, the European Union and the United States (The Quartet) and all the governments of the world:

To publicly condemn the policies of eviction and demolition and settler takeover in démarches to the Israeli government and resolutions in the United Nations;
To restrict the export to Israel of equipment used in demolitions until the Israeli government and military adequately implement policies respecting the housing rights of Palestinians, both citizens of Israel and those living under military occupation;
To cease the upgrading of trade relations and restrict foreign aid until Israel’s policies towards Palestinians are brought into compliance with the Fourth Geneva Convention and the various universal declarations governing the responsibilities of Occupying Powers and the rights of indigenous peoples, minorities and all people;
To use their influence to end the policies of demolition, eviction and land takeovers.

The United Nations (UN-Habitat):

To ensure respect for international norms protecting the right to housing by sending an urgent independent mission of the Advisory Group on Forced Evictions (AGFE) to monitor and identify and to promote alternatives to the demolitions and evictions.

The following is suggested as a letter sent to signatories of the call

Dear friend,

Thank you for your support for the Zero Palestinian Evictions Campaign, Now! To build a successful campaign on this call we propose you:

To build reciprocal relationships with organizations in Palestine and Israel working for just policies protecting rights of housing, residency and citizenship;
To pressure your governmental representatives to pursue the policies in this call;
To write letters to the editor to increase media coverage and public awareness of demolitions and evictions in Israel and Palestine;
To call, fax and/or email the local diplomatic and consular representatives of Israel and demand an end to evictions, demolitions and land takeovers;
To call, fax and/or email local diplomatic and consular representatives of the United States to ask, as Israel’s closest ally, it use its influence to end the policies of demolition, eviction and land takeovers;
To support the 2005 call from Palestinian civil society for boycott, divestment and sanctions against Israel until it complies with international law and respects Palestinian self-determination, including in matters of housing rights, zoning and planning;
To include solidarity with housing rights in Palestine and Israel in local demonstrations and protests.

Thanks again for your support and we look forward to working together in the struggle for justice in Palestine and Israel.

yours in solidarity,
The Zero Palestinian Evictions Campaign, Now!

Diary: East Jerusalem evictions

Rami Hannoun | Al Jazeera

Rami Hannoun keeps watch overnight in case the Israeli authorities come to evict the families

22 April 2009

The Hannouns are one of three families who have had been ordered by an Israeli court to leave their homes in the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood in East Jerusalem.

The families, refugees who lost their original houses when they were occupied in 1948, say they were allowed to build new houses on land allocated by the United Nations under Jordanian administration.

A Jewish organisation, the Committee for Sephardic Jews which operated during the British mandate in Palestine, claims ownership of the land it says it lost during riots before 1948.

The Israeli foreign ministry, the prime minister’s office and the Jerusalem municipality all declined to comment on the case, saying the dispute was a “private matter” between citizens argued out in court.

East Jerusalem is, under international law, an occupied territory and Israel has no authority to change its composition.

The Hannouns are keeping watch for the Israeli police in shifts, with 21-year-old Rami, the eldest son of Maher and Nadia Hannoun, taking the night shift.

Rami has lived in the house all his life, along with his two sisters, 17-year-old Jana and 12-year-old Diala.

He will post regular video and text diaries on this page as both families anxiously await eviction.

Wednesday, April 22: ‘Today a group of priests visited our home’

Today I woke up late and I found the house full of our neighbours and my mother told me that a group of Palestinian students visited us who were coming from the [protest] tent in Silwan.

My father, just like always, explained our situation. Then after that a group of priests came by and visited us and we also told them our story.

During the day, some of the neighbours made a speech to all the groups.

Then one of my sisters took the camera with one of the international protesters and went to try and speak to one of the settlers who was going to pray at the cave where all the Jewish people come and pray because they think there is a rabbi is buried there.

My sister tried to take some pictures of him but the settler refused.

Today, I also had training to go to, but I couldn’t go because the house was full and I couldn’t leave my parents while the house was full of people.

Then I did an interview with my mom and she told me the whole story about our house.

After that my mom made us some food for the first time in two weeks because today she finally had some time to make us something to eat.

Tuesday, April 21: ‘My sisters left the house as my father is afraid for them’

“The Israelis are kicking us out of these houses because they say they own this land – that they have owned it since a long time ago.

Actually, they have a fake paper that says they own it since a long time ago, but we also have papers that go back to the Ottomans period which say that we own this land – that a Palestinian man owns this land and that this land was given to us actually by the Jordanian government and the UN built us these houses.

We are actually waiting every moment for them to come and evict us. My sisters had to leave the house because my father is afraid of them, and our house is completely transformed into another house.

It is not the house that we used to live in. It is not the house we grew up in.

We have lots of internationals [anti-eviction protesters] living with us. We are not living as a family any more, but they are supporting us.

Some nights I stay awake with some internationals, we play cards and smoke hubbly bubbly or something. This makes the time go faster so you cannot feel the time.

My father has not been to work in 40 days because he is afraid the police will come any second, and because he also has to receive lots of internationals and explain to them our story.

My sisters can hardly sleep. They sleep at my grandmother’s because we are afraid for them because of the police and soldiers.

They are too young right now and they cannot handle what is going on. And actually, in front of us they are showing us they are strong, but deep inside they are not strong, they cry to their friends.

Today there was an article in the newspaper. It says that the United Nations are asking Israel to stop evicting Palestinians from their houses in Sheikh Jarrah.

It made me just a little bit optimistic because I hope we will not be evicted from our house.”

Sunday, April 19: ‘I stayed up all night with Israelis who support us’

“It’s my 34th day [on nightwatch]. I woke up and I found the house full of people.

There were a group of Palestinian girls who studied at a college who had heard about our story and came to see us, to understand what is the real situation.

My father explained our case to them. After that, our lawyer came and he was searching for a solution for our case.

International campaigners, including anti-eviction Israelis, are camped out at the house
Then I went to my grandmother’s house. She made lunch for me because my mother wasn’t able to make food because the house was full of people and she didn’t want to leave them.

After that, we had a meeting with some of the international [anti-eviction protesters] who are supporting us. We sat together talking and then I stayed the whole night with them and the Israelis who have come to support us.

The whole situation I am passing through is making me stronger and stronger and it won’t make me give up even if I am getting a little bit tired.

I will always defend my house that I grew up in and lived in for all my childhood.

Sheikh Jarrah residents organize in the face of mass house evictions

Electronic Intifada

A member of the al-Ghawe family stands beside a poster inside his threatened house in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood.

7 April 2009

“We are like the roots of a tree. The Israelis may cut us in places, but we will never die. We will not be transplanted from Jerusalem. I will not leave this house,” Maher Hanun tells a crowded room of Palestinian community members supported by Israeli and international solidarity activists. Hanun is one of 51 residents of the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in occupied East Jerusalem living in two housing units that are facing imminent eviction by Israeli authorities.

The mood is tense as more than 25 individuals pack into a small room in Hanun’s house to plan how to fight the house evictions. Palestinian residents, organized under the Sheikh Jarrah Committee, have invited solidarity activists to come and support their struggle. Internationals from more than 10 countries and Israelis sit in chairs and on the floor as Hanun tells them his story. After his speech, they divide themselves into groups to cover the two threatened housing units. Both the families and the activists gathered in support are determined to stay inside the houses as long as possible when the police arrive to carry out the evictions.

The people living in these housing units, belonging to the al-Ghawe and Hanun families, are due to be forcibly removed from their homes this week, as the papers from the Israeli court they were served with are valid between 15 and 22 March. The courts have justified these evictions by saying that the land that the houses are built on is disputed. Yet, the houses were built under a joint construction project by the United Nations agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA) and the Jordanian government in 1956, 11 years before Israel occupied East Jerusalem. The houses were given to the families, both made refugees in 1948 after Palestinians living in what became the state of Israel were expelled and dispossessed during what Palestinians call the Nakba, or catastrophe.

Now these families are threatened with another Nakba. Israeli settlers that have moved into Sheikh Jarrah have falsified documents claiming ownership of the land. The Hanun and al-Ghawe families have presented their legitimate documents and an Israeli judge has not yet ruled on the legality of these papers. Yet the eviction orders are still proceeding, even though no official decision has been reached as to whom the Israeli courts recognize as the true owners.

Both the Hanun and al-Ghawe families were forcibly evicted once before in 2002, after which they lived in tents for four months within sight of their former homes. This traumatic experience stands out as a vivid memory even for the children of the families. As they brace themselves to be evicted for the second time, the distress and apprehension in both households is clearly noticeable. Family members have spent many sleepless nights waiting for the police, never knowing exactly which night they will come. Women in the al-Ghawe residence often recount how their small children were thrown from a second floor window by police when they were evicted the last time.

In addition to the al-Ghawe and Hanun families, 25 other households are also threatened with eviction in Sheikh Jarrah, though official orders have not yet been issued by Israeli courts. In November 2008, the al-Kurd family was evicted from their home in the middle of the night despite widespread public support and diplomatic pressure from American and European diplomats on the Israelis to halt the eviction order. The al-Kurd family has erected a protest tent in the middle of Sheikh Jarrah from where they continue to demand the right to return to their homes. The Israeli police have destroyed the tent five times on the grounds that it is an “illegal structure” even though it is built on private Palestinian property.

Now, with the threat of removal again hanging over their heads, community members of Sheikh Jarrah are organizing. “Stop ethnic cleansing” is their main message to the Israeli authorities and the broader international community. These words can be seen on posters hung in the windows of neighborhood shops, on large banners over the entrances to the al-Ghawe and Hanun residences, as well as the T-shirts that organizers have distributed in the community.

This past week has seen a buzz of activity in the neighborhood. The Sheikh Jarrah Committee, supported by the Coalition for Jerusalem, the International Solidarity Movement, and other human rights organizations, have utilized a myriad of tactics to fight the eviction orders. Throughout the week, dignitaries from foreign nations, journalists, consular representatives from numerous European countries, and even Knesset members have all visited the homes and the protest tent to express their support for the residents of Sheikh Jarrah. The committee has held press conferences, demonstrations outside of court hearings and drafted statements condemning the orders.

The community also attempted to host an event as part of the Jerusalem Capital of Arab Culture festival at the protest tent on 23 March. Israeli authorities have banned the festival in occupied East Jerusalem, yet organizers have continued to defy the ban in order to celebrate Jerusalem’s rich Palestinian heritage. Sheikh Jarrah residents also gathered to protest the impending house evictions in addition to the increased repression of Palestinian communities in East Jerusalem. Police violently prevented Sheikh Jarrah residents from praying in front of the tent in conjunction with the festival. Participants were badly beaten and eight people were arrested. The following week, another resident was arrested by police inside the tent for refusing to take down a Palestinian flag hanging inside.

The Sheikh Jarrah Committee members view their struggle against eviction as part of a larger struggle against Palestinian dispossession from East Jerusalem. The nearby neighborhoods of Silwan, Beit Hanina and Shufat refugee camp are also facing large-scale house demolitions and evictions. In the al-Bustaan neighborhood of Silwan alone, 88 houses are slated for demolition. Al-Bustaan residents have erected a protest tent similar to the one in Sheikh Jarrah, and this model of resistance seems to be spreading.

For now, the families and supporting activists wait for the police to come each night. They take shifts to make sure someone is up in each house to alarm the community when the Israeli authorities arrive. Some of the family members have removed all of their furniture in anticipation of the coming raids, but they continue to sleep on mats in the floor. The message is clear: they will not go quietly in the face of this injustice.

Two Palestinian families due to be evicted by Israeli authorities in Sheikh Jarrah, Occupied East Jerusalem

15th March 2009, Sheikh Jarrah, Occupied East Jerusalem: Two Palestinian families, consisting of 51 people, are to be evicted from their homes in Sheikh Jarrah, occupied East Jerusalem

At 12am on Sunday, 15th March, eviction orders, issued by an Israeli court, will begin for two housing units in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of occupied East Jerusalem. These housing units belong to the Al-Ghawe and Hanun families.

These orders are valid until the 22nd of March.

The Al-Ghawe famiy consist of 34 residents while the Hanun family household includes 17 people.

In 2002, both the Al-Ghawe and Hanun families were evicted from their homes by Israeli police, after Israeli settlers used falsified documents to claim ownership of these houses.

Family members lived in tents for four months before returning to their homes. The families were able to present their documents
proving their legal ownership before the courts on the 19th of February, but the eviction orders still remain in effect.

The Israelis don’t want me on this land. The ownership documents from the settlers are false, but there is no fairness in the Israeli courts for Palestinians. I was born here in my house, where I have lived for all of the 46 years of my life. Where do they want me to go? I haven’t any other place to live -Nasser Ghawe, Sheikh Jarrah resident

This is an ethnic cleaning that will eventually spread to all of Jerusalem. We are asking all people everywhere to unify against what is going on here and stand firm in the face of evictions. These families legally own their homes, and they should be allowed to stay -Rima Essa, Coalition for Jerusalem

International Human Rights Workers will be staying with the families in solidarity with the protest against these evictions.

The Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood became symbolic in it’s struggle against the ethnic cleansing of occupied East Jerusalem in the run-up to the violent eviction of the al-Kurd family on the 9th November. A protest camp was established initially to show support for the evicted family and the 500 other Palestinians who are under threat of eviction. Israeli forces have demolished the camp four times.

The house had become emblematic of the plight of Palestinian residents of Occupied East Jerusalem. The al-Kurd family were previously made refugees from Jaffa and West Jerusalem. They were then made refugees for the second time as they were evicted from their home of 52 years.

In July the US State Department brought forward an official complaint to the Israeli government over the eviction of the al-Kurd family, openly questioning the legality of terms on which the Israeli Jewish settler group claimed to have purchased the land.

In the near-by Bustan area of Silwan, 88 houses have been served with demolition orders, threatening the homes of 1,500 Palestinians.

According to The Guardian, a confidential EU report accuses the Israeli government of using settlement expansion, house demolitions, discriminatory housing policies and the West Bank barrier as a way of “actively pursuing the illegal annexation” of East Jerusalem.