What lies behind the escalation in the Israeli campaign of demolishing Palestinian Houses?
Yatma: a Palestinian village under demolishing threat

September 13, 2009

Since the beginning of this year, Israel has been facing a tremendous international campaign to freeze its settlements' construction, and even though Israel has been standing its grounds against such a campaign, the heat generated from such pressure has been too troubling even for Israel to handle. At the end Israel has showed some signs of cooperation and concessions but not before it puts its own terms. Hence, Israel offered its position on the settlements' freeze issue that it would only include settlements in the West Bank excluding those in Jerusalem and more than that the settlements' construction freeze would be effective after the construction of the ongoing 2500 housing units in settlements, in addition to the newly approved 455 housing units by the Israeli minister of defense Barak. 

Israel realized that in order to put its condition for settlements freeze, it should increase the heat on other aspects of the conflict; so it was an obvious choice for Israel to go for Quid Pro Quo policy, and to this end Israel has started to escalate its demolishing campaign policy against Palestinian houses through out the occupied Palestinian territory with particular and explicit emphasis on occupied East Jerusalem. Accordingly hundreds of Palestinian houses received demolishing threats since the beginning of this year; particularly in East Jerusalem. Dozens of houses on the other hand were actually demolished; most of which, again, in East Jerusalem. It was obvious that Israel is attempting to set the ground rules for the settlement freeze campaign by sending a clear and loud message to the international community and the Palestinians that the settlements freeze will not be forced upon it and the only way for Israel to go along with it is by its own terms, which are: (1) for the freeze not to include Jerusalem or what they claim to be the capital of the state of Israel, and (2) for what has recently been approved by the Israeli minister of defense Barak (455 housing units) along with the currently under construction (2500+ housing units) to go through and be completed.

In return Israel will play the Quid Pro Quo policy and also freeze the demolishing campaign against Palestinian houses.

Currently, Yatma, which is a Palestinian village located south, of Nablus governorate; north of the West Bank is undergoing the wrath of the Israeli Army with demolishing threats against 50 of the residential houses there. However, it is nota question of demolishing orders against Yatma residents but the purpose that stands behind such mass demolishing orders. The fact that Israel has defied the international community well and the United nations so many time and got away with it; makes it easy for Israel to continue to intimidate Palestinians and bully the international community and continue to use 'collective punishment' which is an internationally outlawed form of behavior against Palestinians'; for they – Israel – know there will be no consequences.

The following table lists the number of demolished Palestinian houses and the number of Palestinian houses that received demolishing orders in the West Bank and in Jerusalem since the beginning of 2009:

Prepared by:
The Applied Research Institute – Jerusalem