Tag: House Demolition - Page 29 - International Solidarity Movement

A wave of demolitions as Israel targets the Jordan Valley

by Lydia

30 November 2011 | International Solidarity Day, West Bank

This morning at 7am the Israeli army entered the village of El Beida in the northern Jordan Valley with 10 military jeeps and one bulldozer. Israeli military proceeded towards Abu Tarek Fracka’s land where he houses a honey farm on the land where his father’s house once stood.

The bee farm was shared by 50 families. Previous harvest has been known to produce 900 kilos of honey with recent prices of honey, yielding 60-100 NIS per kilo. Abu Tarek is in possession of paper work permitting him to build on this land and also forbidding demolishment. Time was not granted to him to produce this paperwork, nor was a demolition notice given to him prior, as the military rushed to unjustly destroy Abu Tarek’s property, the first time he and his family experienced a demolition.

A wave of demolitions - Click here for more images

At 9:00 AM in the village of El Himma, Hassan Ahmad had the barracks of his sheep demolished. The barracks held 200 sheep. There was no prior warning of the demolition given to the family. Back in 2008 the family received orders to stop building on the land. This order was abided by with no recent additions made. The family has rented the land for 6 years from Palestinians. In the past week Israel has demolished three animal barracks within this area, accruing damages costing in excess of 15,000 NIS.

In Al Farisiya, of the Northern Jordan valley, at 9:00 AM soldiers entered the land of Ali Zuhed. No communication was made with the family; instead, the bulldozer went straight to work tearing down the barracks of the sheep. An order was also given to dismantle the remaining animal barracks within hours. The soldiers stated that if these barracks are still standing when they return they would demolish the rest of their properties including their home.

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

Beit Hannina: House demolitions without warning

25 November 2011 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank

At 11 AM this Thursday the 24 of November, Mohammed Ka’abne and his family of Beit Hannina, were shocked by the arrival at their doorstep of an Israeli military unit accompanied by several police officers and two bulldozers.

Without issuing any kind of eviction order, or notification to the family, they proceeded to demolish the two houses of Mohammed’s sons and their families, and the tent where Mohammed himself has lived for five years.

Demolitions in Beit Hannina - Click for more images

When the the bulldozers arrived at the scene at 11 AM, the accompanying military assisted by shooting several teargas canisters throughout the small area. In addition to this they forced the men and women to step aside from the houses.

According to Mohammed they also arrested his grandchildren and beat them, while the bulldozers tore down their houses.

Since the military did not issue any kind of warning in advance, all of the family’s furniture and other belongings were still in the houses when they were torn down.

When the two houses and the tent, including their water tanks, had been destroyed, the military left the family who, with the help of friends and neighbours, started to collect the few belongings which might be saved.

A short while afterwards international observers and activists came to the location to record what had happened. Around 3 PM personnel from the Red Cross also arrived with tents for the family to stay in.

The Bedouin family of Mohammed Ka’abne, 67 years, includes his three sons and their respective wives and six small children.

Mohammed grew up in the South Hebron Hills from where he was forced in 1948, when he moved to Jericho, and some years later came to Beit Hannina.

According to Mohammed he had to spend several thousand shekels to buy a piece of land of 1500 m2, including money for a lawyer to get a building permit and money for the military to let him stay there. Muhammed also says that after having bought the land, he waited for five years for a building permit. He then realized that he couldn’t wait any longer and decided to build the two houses for the families of his sons and put up his tent, although he didn’t have the legal permit to do so.

Five years later the family ais now being forced to live in tents from the Red Cross.

Talking about the brutal way that the demolition was carried out Mohammed said, “If they would have told us to destroy the houses with our own hands we would have done it. But not like this.”

Beit Hannina is a Palestinian neighbourhood in East Jerusalem which has suffered from the establishment of Israeli settlements since 1970. In addition the area also took a heavy blow when the Israeli government started to build the illegal Segregation Wall straight through Beit Hannina in 2004.

The Segregation Wall now effectively cuts off the older part of the neighbourhood – Beit Hannina al-Balad – which is located in the West Bank, from the newer part – Beit Hannina al-Jadida – which is located on the other side of the wall.

A walk between neighbours before the construction of the Segregation Wall might take a few minutes has now been replaced by a bus or taxi ride around the wall and through the Qalandia checkpoint, which takes about 45 minutes, and which of course is not possible for Palestinians without Israeli citizenship.

The family of Mohammed Ka’abne live in Beit Hannina al-Balad, which is supposedly under the control of the Palestinian Authority, yet still the Israeli government decides who they allow to live here and for how long.

Following night raids, Nabi Saleh continues to march for justice

by Aida Gerard

25 November 2011 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank

The Occupation Forces invaded An Nabi Saleh village three times injuring several people by shooting directly at demonstrators with tear gas canisters and rubber coated steel bullets on Friday, November 25th.

Three people were arrested Wednesday in a night time raid earlier in the week. Rami Tamimi, 33, Uday Tamimi, 20, and Muatasim Tamimi, 16 years old were all taken away. The Israeli military justified the arrest Uday and Muatasim because they will be used as witnesses against Bassem Tamimi in his court hearing next week. Bassem Tamimi is one of the local members of the Popular Committee who was arrested in Spring, 2011. The main evidence in Bassem’s case is the testimony from a 14 year old boy, which was fundamentally flawed and violated the rights set forth in the Israeli Youth Law. The same mistreatment was used against Muatasim who was arrested Wednesday night in order for him to testify against Bassem.

Bassem Tamimi has a long history of being targeted by the Occupation. He has been arrested by the Israeli army 11 times to date, though he was never convicted of any offense. Bassem Tamimi has spent around three years in administrative detention, with no charges brought against him. After popular demonstrations began in An Nabi Saleh 10 houses have gotten demolition orders, including the home of Bassem. Bassem’s wife, Nariman Tamimi, has been arrested twice, whiles two of his young sons have been critical injured.

In the last court proceeding against Bassem, he gave a statement dening the unlawful charges against him but proudly admitting to organizing demonstranstions in An Nabi Saleh and stuggeling against the Occupation.

On Friday, soon after the noon prayer demonstrators gathered near the mosque of An Nabi Saleh, where one of the local coordinators gave a small speech about solidarity with the struggle in Jerusalem and also about the negotiations and agreements between Hamas and Fatah. He emphasized the importance of the leaderships’ focus on the resistance and support of it as well. In the end he talked about the night raids of An Nabi Saleh and arrests of youth and minors in connection to the arrest of three people from An Nabi Saleh Wednesday night.

Demonstration in Nabi Saleh – Click here for more images

The demonstration proceeded towards the entrance of the village and was met by skunk water and tear gas canisters shot directly at demonstrators. When the Occupation Forces withdrew to the entrance of the village, demonstrators closed the roads and prevented the military jeeps from entering the village, going towards the mountain in front of the water resource that the illegal settlement Halamish attempts to annex.

The Occupation Forces had invaded the mountain and threatened the demonstrators with the words, “If you come near we will shoot you,” but demonstrators were steadfast and managed to make the Occupation Forces withdraw by walking in between them.

Meanwhile the Occupation Forces invaded An Nabi Saleh village, shooting tear gas, rubber-coated steel bullets, and spraying demonstrators and houses with foul-smelling water.

In the end the Occupation Forces withdrew all units to the entrance of the village, and demonstrators ended the demonstration with a small gathering.

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

Four houses and one mosque fall to Israeli demolitions in Susiya

by Fida Far

25 November 2011 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank

Four houses and one mosque were destroyed this morning, November 24th, in the villages in the south of the West Bank. Around 10 am, fifty soldiers and seven police cars arrived to village Susiya. Two bulldozers destroyed the house of Musa Magna’s family and two women were arrested after attempting to protect the house.

Demolitions in the far south - For more images click here

In addition to these demolitions, the Israeli military also plan to destroy part of a school, the road leading from the village to the school and a several tents in the village.

House demolitions also occurred in Um Fagarah, a few kilometres south of Susiya. The Israeli military destroyed a house which was home to a family of twelve, some tents and a pen holding sheep and rabbits, some of which were killed. Two women were arrested and the occupation forces broke the leg of one elder woman in the village. The houses of Hammamdi family were destroyed even though the demolition order had not been finalised as the court hadn’t yet reached a final verdict. The military also destroyed a mosque in the village.

Both of these shepherd’s villages are often attacked by settlers and subjected to demolitions by the Israeli military.

Fida Far is a volunteer with International Solidarity Movemenet (name has been changed).

Dkaika: Israel continues to expel Bedouins

by Aida Gerard

23 November 2011 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank

Dkaika Bedouins face expulsion - Click here for more images

The entire Bedouin village of Dkaika encounters demolitions, and all the villagers face expulsion. Every single construction of Dkaika has a demolition order totally over 75 demolition orders including a mosque, a school, a graveyard, water cisterns, housing tents, and folds for sheep.

This Thursday, on the 24^th of November, the Israeli Supreme court will decide if it will accept the interim injunction submitted by villagers in collaboration with Rabbis for Human Rights.

The village of Dkaika has a history of receiving demolition orders as early as 1998, and since then they have been facing demolitions. The latest demolition orders arrived the 1^st November 2011. The village received 36 demolition orders covering 46 structures. This January, 17 structures were demolished in Dkaika including a part of the school and family houses, which left families sleeping outdoors in the winter time and school children studying under the open sky.

The Israeli Civil Administration plans to expel the Bedouins in Dkaika to a village 6 kilometers north of Dkeika called Hameeda. The Civil Adminstration reasons that in Hameeda members from the same Bedouin tribe called Ka’bne reside there and thus the expulsion is justified. Rabbis for Human Rights consider the planned expulsion to be a violation of international law. Yet the issue is complicated since none of the Bedouins of Dkaika have land in that village, and the tribe system of the Bedouins makes it impossible for the Bedouins to move to other Bedouins’ land.

In reaction to the demolitions, the head of Dkaika community, Mukhtar Yussif Nadjada said, “If they come and demolish our houses we will start rebuilding the same day. We have lived on this land before the creation of Israel and we will die on this land.”

The ICA (Israeli Civil Administration) usually puts pressure and building restrictions on villages in area C by using area zone planning. They draw a circle fitting the needs of the Occupation and name it the buildup area. This causes a lot of problems for villagers because it restricts their possibilities of building on their land, and normally it supports the expansion of settlements and is of no infrastructural use for Palestinians. In the case of Dkaika, ICA is not even willing to create an area zone planning. ICA claims that the Bedouin village has no self sustainability, and for this reasons they will expel all citizens of Dkaika to Hameeda.

Mukhtar Yussif Nadjada, the head of Dkaika, said, “The planning of the Occupation ONLY suits the building of the soldiers and settlers who expand. We live near the separation wall, and that’s why they want to expel us.”

The expulsion of Bedouins in the South Hebron Hills are similar to the plans of expulsion of Bedouins in all area C in the West Bank and of the Bedouins living in the Negreb dessert, according to B’Tselem.

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