Dozens of international and Israeli solidarity activists protested in solidarity with Silwan in front of the west Jerusalem house of Jerusalem mayor Nir Barkat. Demonstrators stated that they were opposing his racist policy in Silwan, which follows an agenda of promoting illegal settlements.
The demonstrators condemned the intention of the Jerusalem Municipality to demolish houses in Silwan in order to build a biblical garden which will be linked to the settlement City of David tourist site in the village.
The demonstrators instead sarcastically demanded that Barakat’s house should be demolished and a biblical park built upon it. They also asked that Barakat’s neighbors accept the building of a second floor for Barakat upon their own house – in mockery of the ‘compensation’ offer he made to the 22 houses that he plans to demolish in Silwan.
Global Intifada 2010: Popular Struggle. Steadfastness. Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions.
Popular resistance to Israel’s apartheid is growing globally! In Palestine, non-violent resistance to land confiscation and settlement expansion is gathering momentum.
Weekly non-violent demonstrations in the West Bank and Gaza have tripled since January, and continue to increase in size and number. The tents are standing strong in Jerusalem’s threatened communities of Sheikh Jarrah and Silwan, and resistance to settler attacks and land grabs in the Jordan Valley is also building.
The International Solidarity Movement is committed to supporting these communities in their struggle for justice and freedom. We stand alongside Palestinians in demonstrations, stay in the tents and homes of threatened areas, and walk with farmers to their land. By documenting and helping to resist the evils of apartheid, ISM projects the Palestinian struggle to a global audience, and shows Israel that the world is against its actions.
Come and join the Global Intifada in Palestine! Committed volunteers are needed in the West Bank. This new wave of unarmed resistance is exciting and powerful, and it needs your support. Whether for 2 weeks or for 3 months, your contribution is needed. See www.palsolidarity.org for more information, or email us at palreports@gmail.com.
From abroad: Under the banner of “Global Intifada”, solidarity actions are needed worldwide. Please consider organizing an action in your hometown.
The growing Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement is crucial, and is a great way for you to get involved in your own country. Similar tactics were used in ending South African apartheid. For more information, go to bdsmovement.net
Please join the Global Intifada. We look forward to seeing you here.
The Jerusalem Municipality issued a further 8 demolition orders on February 24 applying to Palestinian homes in Silwan village East Jerusalem. The main street of Wadi Hilweh neighbourhood of Silwan collapsed that evening at the same point it collapsed in January due to structural damage caused by settler project “City of David”’s subterranean excavations.
A large force of Israeli Police and Border Police, accompanied by Jerusalem Municipality representatives, executed an early morning raid on the village of Silwan that day to deliver a further 8 administrative demolition orders. Amongst the affected families are that of Riad a-Tawil, Nayef Alqam, Hani Haymoni, Yassin Salaymeh and Salfiti.
The demolition orders state “Under Construction & Management Law of 1956 you are ordered to immediately halt all current construction work and return the area’s condition to its status prior to initial construction [to remove the structure entirely]. If no action is implemented with regards to this warning the Municipality will consider taking legal action against you via administrative demolition.”
Riad a-Tawil stated that Municipality representatives visited his shop in the Wadi Hilweh district of Silwan to measure and photograph it from the exterior prior to their delivery of the demolition order to be applied to the property. He denounced the exclusive enforcement of the law on Silwan’s Palestinian residents whilst various illegal settlement construction continues unabated in the village.
Hani Haymoni reports similar treatment, wherein Municipality officials photographed and assessed his family home from the outside before issuing its order for demolition. The house is home to 8 members of the Haymoni family.
The same evening at approximately 8:30pm the Wadi Hilweh neighbourhood’s main street collapsed a second time, the cavity having been repaired since it collapsed at the same point on 2 January 2010. The collapse was due to structural damage caused by extensive excavations undertaken by settler conglomerate Elad’s “City of David” project underneath large areas of Silwan, severely compromising the structural integrity and safety of Palestinian homes, shops and streets. Elad has employed methods of “political archeology” to lay claim to the area, claiming to have uncovered the Biblical city of King David, reinforcing the right-wing ideological vision of Jerusalem as Israel’s unified capital on the basis of ancient history. Its plans are to convert the majority of Silwan in to a “Biblical theme park”, which, should they succeed would ethnically cleanse thousands of Palestinian residents from the region.
There are already over 200 standing demolition orders on Palestinian homes in Silwan that face a renewed threat since Jerusalem mayor Nir Barakat’s statement last week that the Municipality will implement all demolition orders on structures deemed illegal. The statement was made in response to an in effect order of eviction on the illegal Jewish settlement project of Beit Yehnatan in Silwan issued by the Jerusalem Civil Court. Although the law stipulating the illegality of construction without the required permit applies to all residents of Silwan, it has only been applied to Palestinians to date, betraying the Municipality’s racist policies regarding the Palestinian population of East Jerusalem. The law has been used as one of the Municipality’s fundamental tools in its attempts to limit or prevent natural growth of Silwan’s native population and its underhanded support for seemingly private settler projects such as Beit Yehnatan or Elad’s “City of David” project.
A vigil began close to 12:30PM at the protest tent in the neighborhood of Silwan, East Jerusalem. More than one hundred Silwan community members gathered to listen to speeches and commenced mid-day prayer in unison. Following the collective prayer the community members marched through the streets of Silwan.
Today’s demonstration is a response to the pending demolitions of over 200 homes in Silwan. These demolitions were slated to be government sanctioned “price tag” actions in response to the anticipated eviction of the illegal Zionist squat Beit Yonatan. Ateret Cohanim, a Zionist settler organization, built Beit Yonatan in the heart of Silwan. Their building plan was approved for a four story complex, but and extra three stories were added without approval. This is in contradiction to the four-story limit to which Palestinians in the neighborhood are held.
In a hard-fought battle, the Mayor of Jerusalem, Nir Barkat, grudgingly agreed to evict the settlers after more than a year of attempting to find a legal strategy to avoid serving the orders. Before the legal appeals, State Prosecutor Moshe Lador demanded the sealing orders be served. Mayor Barkat will execute the sealing orders of Beit Yonatan, but only in conjunction with the execution of nearly 200 home demolition orders for Palestinian homes in Silwan.
The illegal squat will be allowed to remain through extra-legal machinations until 200 homes housing 1500 individuals are demolished. The main reason for the displacement of so many Palestinians is to pave the way for a tourism center pertaining to the history of King David and the excavations undertaken to find relics related to his dynasty.
At around 4pm, on Saturday 2 January 2010 part of a main road in the Palestinian neighbourhood of Silwan collapsed. The section of road runs above tunneling work carried out by the Elad settler organisation. Despite the road collapsing in the mid-afternoon, it was not until 8pm that Israeli police arrived at the scene, after an Israeli bus serving the settler population drove into the hole in the road.
Silwan is a Palestinian village on the hills south of the Old City of Jerusalem, captured in 1967 by the Israeli army. It is one of several neighbourhoods in East Jerusalem where the Israeli state and settler organisations are forcing Palestinians from their homes. Almost 90 houses in the area are currently threatened with demolition, potentially displacing 1,000 – 1,500 residents and no construction permits have been issued for Palestinians in the area since 1967. Excavation works represent another threat to Palestinian residents; literally undermining their homes.
Tunneling by the Elad settler organisation, which also runs the ‘City of David’ tourist site in Silwan, has been frequently criticised for undermining the Palestinian neighbourhood. Elad director David Be’eri was filmed admitting that his excavations are carried out under people’s houses. He described the excavation method in which “we built from the top down” and “everything’s standing in the air” [due to the removal of fill]. “Then [the engineer] says: ‘you have to shut the whole thing’ [because of danger of collapse]. I tell him: ‘are you crazy?’”
Land located under people’s houses is considered their property under Israeli law, and digging in densely populated areas without the permission of property owners is therefore illegal. Despite this, ‘archaeological’ digging continues throughout the Old City and its surroundings with the complicity of Israeli authorities, police and courts. Also in the tape mentioned above, made about a year ago, the founding head of Elad, David Be’eri, says: “At a certain point we came to court. The judge approached me and said, ‘you’re digging under their houses.’ I said ‘I’m digging under their houses? King David dug under their houses. I’m just cleaning.’ He said to me, ‘Clean as much as possible.’ Since then, we’re just cleaning; we’re not digging.”
Less than six months ago a large part of the same road gave way meters from the most recent collapse. Local people say they are concerned that their homes may also collapse in the future. Subsidence caused by the tunneling is visible on buildings and roads around the excavation area. A Palestinian kindergarten opened in 1990 is located directly next to the opening of the tunnel. In recent months several large cracks have appeared in the building. Classes were affected by today’s road collapse. Several children protested the undermining of their school and the whole area.
This afternoon, work was underway to repair the collapsed area. Reconstruction is expected to take between one and two days, further disrupting the neighbourhood. Meanwhile, residents of Silwan remain concerned that future collapses will be more dangerous.
Elad Director admits undermining Palestinian homes:
