Tag: Jerusalem

PNN: “Tens of people homeless after Israeli bulldozers destroy Jerusalem apartment building”

by Maisa Abu Ghazaleh, January 23rd

Bulldozers belonging to Israeli-annexed Jerusalem’s municipality demolished a four story residential building belonging to Mohammad Mahmoud Al Aemes. Israeli forces used the pretext of building a street for a settlement in destroying the Sur Baher neighborhood home. But they did not finish on Monday, leaving half for today.

Several months prior to demolition foreign solidarity activists camped out in the building in hopes of saving it, but to no avail. At 8:30 in the morning yesterday Israeli forces came from all directions using several means, including horses, to enter quickly.

They attacked neighbors and residents, beating all family members in the building with batons and rifle butts. The father of the homeowner, 60 year old Mahmoud Al Aemes, has a fractured neck while his 35 year old son in law, Abu Zaid Awadullah has a broken hand. The Israelis detained them without allowing treatment.

When the Israeli soldiers and bulldozers arrived some members of the family rushed to the Municipal Court to appeal the decision to destroy their home. The demolition was extended until 11:00 until the family paid 70,000 shekels, however the Israeli Supreme Court did not respond to the appeal and instead insisted on the demolition saying that it would serve as a “lesson to all violators in the district.”

The bulldozers demolished the Palestinian home without allowing the families to remove all of the personal items, furniture, appliances and electronics. The total cost to build the four-story residential building in 2001 amounted to two million shekels. Each floor had two apartments. Mahmoud Al Aemes lived with his wife and four children on the first floor since 2005. On the second floor was his brother Saber and his wife and three children. The third floor housed a family of five and the fourth a family with seven daughters. In the other apartments were a university student and a family of seven.

Al Aemes received a demolition order in 2005 and immediately filed an appeal in three municipal courts, and in the central and high courts. They paid between 10 and 30 thousand shekels each time to stay the demolition and several lawyers were on the case. The Jerusalem Municipality refused to grant a building permit at each request. The area is being taken for a settlement.


the nearby Har Homa colony, which has stolen much of Sur Baher’s land

Abir Memorial Ceremony in Anata

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Tomorrow, Sunday January 20th, students of all 3 schools in Anata will hold a memorial ceremony for 10-year old Abir Aramin. According to eyewitness accounts, Abir was shot by a border police officer on Tuesday morning outside her school. Abir was declared brain dead and put on a life support machine until Thursday evening when it was switched off. Abir was buried in East Jerusalem on Friday afternoon.

The ceremony will start at the Anata Girls School at 10:30. Anata residents and students have invited Israeli and international peace activists to participate in the ceremony.

The students and residents will also demand the authorities withdraw the Border Police and IDF forces from the school area of Anata. According to the residents, since the completion of the wall construction a few months ago the presence of the soldiers near the schools is only a violent provocation. The killing of Abir demonstrates the tragic results of this pointless presence.

16-year old Hassan Hilweh, who was standing next to Abir when she was wounded stated: “the students of the girls school and the boys school had both just come out of an examination. A border police jeep approached the group of girls. The girls were afraid and started running away. The border police jeep followed them in the direction in which they were retreating. Abir was afraid and stood against one of the shops at the side of the road, I was standing near her. The border policeman shot through a special hole in the window of the jeep that was standing very close to us. Abir fell to the ground. I picked her up and took her to the girls school. I saw that she was bleeding from the head.”

British foreign minister Dr. Kim Howells, has expressed his concern over Abir’s killing. The British minister said, “I felt deep worry today when I heard the news of the killing of a Palestinian child, 10 years old, as a result of an Israeli operation in Anata, east of Jerusalem. We have been told that Israel has started an investigation for the accident”.

He appealed to the Israeli authorities that the investigation be as thorough as possible.

Ten-year old girl brain dead after border police shooting

by the ISM media team, January 18th


Abir’s sister, Arin, and a schoolfriend who were walking with Abir when she was shot in the head two days ago

Abir Aramin, ten years old, who was wounded by an Israeli border policeman Tuesday the 16th, was announced brain dead this morning at the Haddasa Ein Karem hospital and is being examined by a committee to determine whether or not to unplug her from life support machines.

Bassam Aramin, the girl’s father, is a member of Combatants for Peace, the Israeli-Palestinian peace organisation. Israeli and Internationals supporters have gathered at the girls School in Anata to express their solidarity and protect the traumatised students from the ongoing threat of the Israeli border police.

Hassan, a sixteen-year old student who witnessed Abir’s injury and carried her back to the girls school stated “the students of the girls school and the boys school had both just come out of an examination. A border police jeep approached the gathering of girls. The girls were afraid and started running away. The border police jeep followed them in the direction in which they were retreating. Abir was afraid and stood against one of the shops at the side of the road, I was standing near her. The border policeman shot through a special hole in the window of the jeep that was standing very close to us. Abir fell to the ground. I picked her up and took her to the girls school. I saw that she was bleeding from the head.”


the two girls outside the shop where Abir was shot

According to Avichai Sharon of Combatants for Peace and a friend of the family “The Israeli border police have been entering Anata frequently when students go and return from school for the last year and eight months. This began with the construction of the Wall near Anata, supposedly in order to protect the construction workers from the students, but construction of the wall was completed over a month and a half ago”. According to Wael Salameh, a close friend of the family and a member of Combatants for Peace, “This week border police would invade the village twice a day when the students were going and returning from school.”

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Action Alert: Ask Veolia advisors to take a stand for Justice in Palestine!

from the Grassroots Palestinian Anti-Apartheid Wall Campaign

Connex / Veolia and Alstom are the international investors in the Citypass consortium that will build and run a light rail project in Jerusalem that incorporates a number of Jewish settlements around East Jerusalem, built on stolen Palestinian land. It ensures the contiguity of these colonies with the central areas of the city and plays a key role in sustaining the settlements and ensuring they become a permanent fixture upon Palestinian land.

Veolia’s involvement in the tramline makes the company complicit in Israel’s violations of international law reaping significant profits over a 30 year period, money stained with the blood and misery of Palestinians under Occupation and currently being expelled from Jerusalem.

Veolia has rejected to heed the calls from Palestine and international organizations.

Thus international pressure is mounting on the corporation to stop their involvement in the Judaization of Jerusalem.

* Connex shuttles have been blockaded in Geneva.

* Following protests by trade unions and IPSC in August 2006, Veolia Transport Ireland had called off plans to train Israeli personnel to operate the tramline in Jerusalem.

* In November the Dutch ASN Bank decided to divest from Veolia until the company respects the relevant UN resolutions.

Support us in putting further pressure on Veolia!

Address the advisors of the Institut Veolia Environnement, the group’s prestige institute aiming to “propose a forum for dialogue and interchange with academia, institutions and the different actors in society.”

Ask the intellectuals associated with the institute to re-consider their support of Veolia as long as Veolia supports violations of Palestinian rights!

To:
Foresight committee Institut Veolia Environnement:
Amartya Sen: ree23@cam.ac.uk (cc weiner@fas.harvard.edu )
Philippe Kourilsky: caput@pasteur.fr
Pierre Marc Johnson: pjohnson@heenan.ca
Harvey Fineberg: fineberg@nas.edu
Mamphela Ramphele: aesmar@bremner.uct.ac.za
Helene Ahrweiler: (no email available)

cc: Georges Valentis: georges.valentis@institut.veolia.org
(Managing Director of Institut Veolia Environnement)

>From :
Name/Organization:
____________________
____________________

Date: ____________

Open letter to the Foresight Committee members of the Institut Veolia Environnement

Dear Foresight Committee members,

We are addressing you in your capacity as experts supporting the efforts of Institut Veolia Environnement.

We know that all of you have dedicated a great part of your life and expertise to the promotion of human rights and social, economic, cultural and political rights of people all over the world. We appreciate your commitment and are writing you now to urge you to continue your support for human rights for all.

We would like to inform you about the implications of your association with the Institut Veolia in terms of its’ violations of international law, UN resolutions, and Palestinian human rights and cultural heritage.

As you may know, Veolia, together with Alstom, are the international investors in the Citypass consortium that won a 2002 tender put out by Israeli authorities for a light rail transportation project in Jerusalem amounting to around 500 million euros. Citypass will be responsible for operation and maintenance of the system for the next thirty years.*

The path of the light rail incorporates a number of Jewish settlements around East Jerusalem, built on stolen Palestinian land. It ensures the contiguity of these colonies with the central areas of the city and provides them with a vital transport link. The project boasts that the “Ammunition Hill” station of the network will operate as the feeder station for settler traffic from Ma’aleh Adumim, a large Israeli settlement in the West Bank, and from settlements in the West Bank’s Jordan Valley. The light rail project plays a key role in sustaining the settlements and ensuring they become a permanent fixture upon Palestinian land.

In August 2005, the project got the go ahead from War Criminal Ariel Sharon who stated at a signing ceremony: “I believe that this should be done, and in any event, anything that can be done to strengthen Jerusalem, construct it, expand it and sustain it for eternity as the capital of the Jewish people and the united capital of the State of Israel, should be done.” The Occupation’s Mayor Uri Lupolianski described the light rail to be “the fulfillment of Psalm 122.” The tramline is clearly part of a larger plan to substitute Jerusalem’s historical and unique social fabric and its cultural heritage with a new brand of a “Judaized” version of Jerusalem.

According to international law, an occupying power is not allowed to annex or drastically change the infrastructure in the territories it occupies. The advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice in July 2004 confirmed that Israel is an occupying power and that building the Wall and Jewish settlements in occupied Palestinian territories is illegal. However, the tramline project runs through the occupied Palestinian territories. Veolia’s involvement in the tramline will make the company complicit in Israel’s violations of international law.

The project, a private-public partnership (PPP) between the Israeli Occupation government and the consortium, is hinged upon the willingness of international business groupings to provide a huge injection of capital. In turn Veolia and Alstom will reap significant profits and dividends over a thirty-year period, money stained with the blood and misery of Palestinians under Occupation and currently being expelled from Jerusalem.

Veolia has received a lot of criticism since it first announced its intentions to become involved in the illegal project. Stop the Wall and other Palestinian civil society organizations have launched appeals against its participation in the tramway. President of the Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas and French President Jacques Chirac already discussed Veolia’s partnership in the tramline project in the summer of 2005. Amnesty International France highlighted the unlawfulness of the construction of the tramline in East Jerusalem in a public statement on 1 March 2006.

The Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign (IPSC) revealed in August 2006 that Veolia Transport Ireland had called off plans to train Israeli personnel to operate a similar tramline in East Jerusalem, following trade union protests inspired by the IPSC.

Then in November the Dutch ASN Bank ended its relationship with Veolia and wrote to Veolia:

“….We believe that Veolia’s involvement in the light rail project is not in line with the UN’s demand to stop all support for Israel’s settlement activities, and is therefore not in line with ASN Banks’ social criteria. Due to the direct nature of Veolia’s involvement (through a 5% stake in the consortium and as future operator), we are of the opinion that Veolia’s activities in Jerusalem are in conflict with UN Resolutions. Therefore, on this current information Veolia will be removed from our investment universe.”

In the light of the above, we urge you to take a stand for justice and international law and to join the international efforts to convince the Veolia group to consider the role human rights should play in investments.

We ask you to re-consider your support of Veolia as long as Veolia supports violations of our rights and international legality.

As Veolia has not heeded the calls from Palestine and various international organizations, ending your relationship with Veolia—just as the ASN Bank did—will allow you to truly “participate in defining the overall direction and contribute to the discussions led by the Institut Veolia Environnement.”

Regards,

Signature

Two Jerusalem House Demolitions

by John, December 11th

Last night human rights workers learned that there were going to be demolitions of houses in the Jerusalem district today so we travelled to Al ‘Isawiya. When we arrived we found that the house had already been destroyed and that the bulldozer had come at 5am. The father of the family was there but the children and mother were all ‘sick’ – stressed by the events of the day. This is the second time the house has been knocked down – they were told if they paid $10,000-20,000 it may be saved but of course they do not have that money. They had rebuilt it after the last demolition simply because they had nowhere else to go.

This family will now move into another house next door which other members of their extended family live in – the reason they had moved out is because there were too many to fit in this house – now 6 people will have to move into a house with a similar number. The space available to them is pretty small as it was, so this is going to make the situation even worse. Luckily they had enough time to retrieve almost all their belongings before the house was knocked down.

HRWs were also present later at a house on the Mount of Olives while the demolition took place, but police would not let internationals anywhere near because of ‘orders’. When questioned, one of the soldiers pushed a journalist for no real reason, only a small push, but still it is unacceptable as he was not trying to pass the soldier at the time, simply trying to ascertain why he was not allowed past. One police officer said that before this house, they demolished a Jewish house and were going onto another Jewish house, in fact a lot of the houses they knock down are Jewish. Of course she was vague on details and we replied we had never heard of this – one person in the group has researched this extensively, but she said see had seen different research. They then said we can take pictures from where we were, although the house could not be seen from this position.

Eventually some got onto the roofs of other properties but most of it was over. The soldiers and police who were there were all patting each other on the back and shaking hands – job done. The children were there and some of the grown men had tears in their eyes.

Other houses in this area have been bulldozed recently as well, and some residents seem worried that still more houses might be next. This month has seen a large number of properties bulldozed in the West Bank, and with many other properties threatened, more are likely in the near future. Since the start of 2004 234, and so far this year 36 Palestinian houses have been demolished in Jerusalem alone.

A family home in Walaja, west of Bethlehem, was destroyed for the third time today.