Tag: House Demolition

Act for East Jerusalem

13 October 2009

We as Scandinavians are very concerned about the developments in East Jerusalem. Israel is continuing a policy violating international law towards the Palestinian inhabitants of the area.

We strongly urge our politicians to put pressure on the Israeli Government to end settlement expansion and annexation of Palestinian land and property.

In the case of Sheikh Jarrah two families were recently evicted from their houses and are now in a status of refugee for the second time since the 1948 war between Israel and Palestine. The Ghawi family have been living in a tent in front of their own house since the forced eviction.

Forced displacement affects Palestinian families in many neighborhoods of East Jerusalem, including Silwan and the Mount of Olives, which together with Sheikh Jarrah form part of the Holy Basin surrounding the Old City. From January to July 2009, at least 194 people, including 95 children, were forcibly displaced and another 107, including 46 children, were affected as a result of house demolitions ordered or carried out by the Israeli authorities in East Jerusalem. According to conservative estimates, there are currently over 1,500 pending demolition orders in East Jerusalem alone, potentially affecting several thousand Palestinian residents.

We strongly urge our politicians to put pressure on the Israeli Government in accordance to the following statements (as recommended by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs):

• Prevent the displacement of Palestinian families and communities by putting an immediate stop to forced evictions and house demolitions.

• Facilitate the return to their homes of families that have been displaced as a result of forced evictions and house demolitions in East Jerusalem.

• Protect the rights of Palestinian residents to land and property and ensure respect for international law, including human rights and humanitarian law.

To sign the petition, click here

The petition will be send to the Scandinavian Foreign Ministers and relevant members of the European Parliament:

Anna Ibrisagic, a swedish MP of the comittee for Foreign Affairs, anna.ibrisagic@europarl.europa.eu

Heidi Hautala, a Finnish MP of the comittee for Foreign Affairs and the comittee of Human Rights, heidi.hautala@europarl.europa.eu

Anneli Jäätteenäki, a Finnish MP of the comittee for Foreign Affairs, anneli.jaatteenmaki@europarl.europa.eu

Per Stig Møller, the Danish Minister for Foreign Affairs, udenrigsministeren@um.dk

Jonas Gahr Støre,the Norwegian Minister for Foreign Affairs, umin@mfa.no

Alexander Stubb, the Finnish Minister for Foreign Affairs, umi@formin.fi

Carl Bildt, the Swedish Minister for Foreign Affairs
http://www.regeringen.se/pub/r…

Israelis flatten Palestinian home

BBC

12 October 2009

Israeli authorities have demolished two Palestinian-owned structures in East Jerusalem, in defiance of international calls to stop such actions.

Palestinian reports say a family of five was forcibly evicted from their home in the Beit Hanina district before the building was demolished.

Israeli bulldozers then destroyed the foundations of another building nearby.

UN officials say such demolitions violate international law and raise serious humanitarian concerns.

Israel says buildings subject to demolition orders have been built without permits.

Palestinians say it is virtually impossible to obtain the necessary approval from Israel’s municipal authorities in Jerusalem.

The Israeli human rights group B’Tselem , says the authorities have demolished about 420 Palestinian-owned houses in East Jerusalem since 2004 saying they were built without permits.

Israel occupied the territory in the 1967 war and annexed it soon afterwards in a move that has not been recognised internationally.

Israeli military delivers demolition orders for six Palestinian houses in at-Tuwani

Christian Peacemaker Team

13 September 2009

At-Tuwani – In the afternoon of 13 September, members from the Israeli District Coordinating Office (DCO), accompanied by Israeli soldiers, delivered demolition orders for six Palestinian houses near the village of At-Tuwani.

The houses were recently built on privately-owned Palestinian land in Humra valley. On the night of 16 July, while some of the houses were still under construction, one building was destroyed and a nearby olive tree was damaged. The Palestinian family suspected the house had been destroyed by Israeli settlers from the nearby settlement Ma’on or the outpost Havat Ma’on. The family began rebuilding their house the next day.

On 20 July 2009 the Israeli military delivered stop work orders on the houses and two other structures, including a cistern. Now that demolition orders have been issued the families fear the Israeli military will soon destroy the houses.

The Israeli military severely restricts Palestinian building in the South Hebron Hills area, designated Area C under the Oslo Accords and under full Israeli control. However, the nearby Israeli settlements of Ma’on and Carmel and the outposts of Avigail and Havot Ma’on continue to expand. Members of Christian Peacemaker Teams and Operation Dove have documented continuous settlement expansion since 2004.

Photos from the day are available at: http://tinyurl.com/kkb4ez

Six Arab families from East Jerusalem appeal eviction

Akiva Eldar | Ha’aretz

19 August 2009

The eviction of six Arab families from their apartments in East Jerusalem’s Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood this month stemmed from serious mistakes by the authorities, including the Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court, the former residents wrote in an appeal to the Jerusalem District Court.

The families contend that the staff of the Bailiff’s Office, who had orders to evict Maher Hanun and Abdelfatah Gawi, improperly evicted six other families as well.

The eviction proceedings were filed on behalf of a Sephardi Jewish community organization that the court found had rights to the property dating from the Mandate period. Following the evictions, Jews moved into part of the property.

The Magistrate’s Court ruling stated that Majad and Halil Hanun were evicted because they were living there by virtue of being the sons of Maher Hanun. In their appeal, however, they state that they are Maher Hanun’s brothers, and that they were living there in their own right and not through their brother.

Family members of Abdelfatah Gawi argue that they also have independent rights to the property, were never parties to the eviction proceedings, and never received orders to vacate the premises.

The lawyer for the evicted tenants said the Magistrate’s Court judge did not thoroughly consider the evidence, and that the court ruling even contained basic typographical errors, including mistakes in the parties’ names.

Tuesday, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs released a report stating that 53 people, including 20 children, were evicted from the Sheikh Jarrah site, and that another 475 may be evicted from the neighborhood, allegedly to build housing for Jews.

Nablus-area residents to protest home demolition orders

This coming Thursday (20/08/09) the families and friends of those affected by the demolition orders detailed below, will hold a protest outside the courts in Beit El. They will be joined by residents of nearby villages and international solidarity activists. The rally will start between 9 and 10am outside the court.

House demolition orders in Yetma:

In the village Yetma south of Nablus in the West Bank, around 17 houses was given demolition orders from the Israeli Government, issued the 27th of July 2009. All houses were built after the Oslo process, and are located in the only part of the village that is considered to be area C according to the Accords. By the Israeli government, therefor, these houses are considered as having been built without a permit. This is their official reason for issuing the orders. However, the area is located no further than aproximetely 2 km from the border of the Israeli settlement Rahel. Neither the Palestinian Authority nor the Israeli Government will give the house owners licenses saying that they own the land on which the houses are built.

The 6th of August, however, after having issued an official complaint about the demolition orders, 3 of the houses had their court case. The decision became that the legal process would be postponed until the 13th of August when a new court case will be held.

According to the demolition orders issued to 9 of the other houses, the final date on which the Israeli Government can come to evict the houses is dated the 20th of August. The house owners of these houses too, made an official complaint about the decision, but their court case will be held as late 9 o clock the 20th of August, which makes it possible for Israel to fulfill the evictions before the legal procedure takes place.

The Red Crescent will provide the families with food and tents after the demolitions.

Demolition orders for 13 houses in Dahia village east of Nablus

The village of Dahia is a very quiet area, in the mountains east of Nablus. Since the time of the Ottoman Empire, the area has belonged to the city of Kafr Qalil.

During the Oslo agreement, the land was classified under Area C, land that falls under full Israeli administrative control. Dahia has over 200 houses and new homes are under current construction. These are located near the top of the mountain where there is a fence preventing people to enter a military road which leads to a military observation point. From this point the military can overlook the whole area with its various villages and also Balata Camp. During the second Intifada the military also used to shoot people from there in Balata Camp. On the other side of the fence there is a village with Arabic Jews who live there for many years who have good relations to the people from Dahia. But to reach them you have to travel a long way round.

Most of the families moving to Dahia are people from Balata Camp who try to fulfill their dream of a secure home outside the camp. The money to build those palaces (in comparison to the conditions under which they have to live in Balata Camp) they moostly borrowed from friends, their family and the bank. Mostly it’s about the money you earn when you work 40 years. Now thirteen of the families got house demolishing orders which they received on the 21st of July. The court case will take place on the 13th of August. The houses are randomly chosen by the Israeli army. They consider them to be a security risk. Some of the houses are located close to the fence some are far away, not even built – others are directly next to the fence and can stay for the moment.

Again the conflict is as in several areas: People legally bought the land and even received deeds of ownerships for it from the responsible government (here: Kafr Qalil) which refer to the deeds from the Ottoman Empire. Afterwards they got the building license and water and energy supply.

Now as already mentioned they are considered to be a security risk. In the area of Dahia only three houses got a building license also from the Israeli government.

The inhabitants are afraid that if the 13 cases will be lost in front of the judge other house demolishing orders will follow.

Azzun:
Since some time there exists the order to build a road which shall connect the settlements of Alfei Menashe and Kamei Shomron. It’s going to be 10 km long with a buffer zone of 300 meters on each side and will cost around 180 000 000 NIS. This will change the usual root for people from Azzun on their way to Nablus. Because it will be a settlers’ only road Palestinian will have to make a detour via Jayyus.

Activists expect the plans for this road to be the reason why that many owners get demolishing orders for their houses. In 1993 2500 Dunums of Izbat at Tabib got the order to be confiscated in order to be replaced by an industrial area. This decision was postponed in 2001. Nowadays half of the 45 houses of the village have demolishing orders and settlers accompanied by IOF show up in the village and stay there for some hours. Strangely people from another village where they got house demolishing orders additional to this got the order to move to Izbat al Tabib against what the inhabitants of Izbat al Tabib got to say: They shall move to Azzun where new possibilities of housing are promised to them.