Israel Continues assault on East Jerusalem’s communities
“The Demolition of Two Palestinian Houses in Ras Al ‘Amoud and Sur Baher communities”

On the 13^th of December, and continued on the 14^th of December 2010, the Israeli Occupation Bulldozers demolished two Palestinian structures in occupied east Jerusalem; where on the 13^th of December 2010, the first demolished house is located in Ras Al Amoud neighborhood; the house was built in the beginning of this year (2010) and belongs to Eid Bahjat Al Dwiek who is the father of eight family members. The house is 85m² area and was demolished under the pretext of not having building license or authorization from the Israeli Municipality of Jerusalem. It is worth noticing that resident Eid Bahjat al Dwiek has received a demolition order two months ago.

 

At the site of the first demolition, the process went under the supervision of a huge number of military and police patrol escorts; In addition, a pre-demolition besiege of the location generated a double phase reaction by the owners, a reaction against the tremendous tyranny they are going under and the action of demolition which came in the form of clashes between the Israeli Occupation forces and the civilians and owners who were at the site of demolition, leading to the undisciplined and uncivil attack of the Israeli Occupation forces against the owners and civilians.

 

As for the second demolition, which took place on the 14^th of December in Sur Baher city, in occupied east Jerusalem, the under-construction building of Samer Jebriel Amireh was the target. Samer Jebriel Amireh, a father of three family members and owner of the targeted 200 m² area house said that he didn’t receive any prior warning or demolition order from the Municipality, and that he and his brother were planning to move and live in the building at the beginning of the New Year, 2011. Of course the Israeli Occupation Authorities gave the same pretext for the demolition, which is not having building license or authorization from the Israeli Municipality of Jerusalem for building the house.

 

Such violations are not random, nor recent. Going back to history, to the year 1967, when Israel occupied the West Bank, including East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip; an entire sector of the Old City of Jerusalem (Al-Magharbeh neighborhood) was demolished to establish the Jewish quarter to settle in the Israeli settlers on the ruins of Palestinian houses. From that point on, Israel persisted on its house demolishing policy in the West Bank with particular emphasis on occupied East Jerusalem using various and illegal pretexts to that end. The Israeli pretexts are mostly based on the unavailability of licenses and authorization from the Municipality of Jerusalem for building, while the unbearable, incapacitating, and compulsory chain of process, which the Palestinian has to follow, to obtain such license, complicate the attainment of such a license.

 

From such indicators, it is seen that there is a well-plotted plan, which has a unique aim, dangerous in its reflections, to change the demographic status of the Occupied City. Such aim was achieved on different ways, beginning from the 1967, when David Ben Gurion, the first Prime Minister of Israel said: ‘To avoid the decay of the Israeli state, the main necessary target is to direct the Jewish settling towards Jerusalem in general, and the eastern block of Jerusalem in specific; whatever the price would be, and not waiting or entering in negotiations with our neighbors.’

 

From that date, an area of 71000 dunums (71 km²), has been annexed by the Israel for unilaterally enlarging the borders of the Municipality of Jerusalem which was 6500 dunums (6.5 km²) before the 1967 war; In addition, Israel initiated the settlement program in the city after 1967 with the aim of increasing the population of Israelis in the Occupied city at the same time driving the Palestinian population to its minimum rate.

 

 

This has been emphasized in numerous plans, the last of which was in 2004 when the Israeli Jerusalem Municipality disclosed the Town Planning Scheme 2000 (TPS-2000) which will serve till the year 2020. According to the plan, Jerusalem has “NO AREA” for future Arab Jerusalemite development although more than half of its total area is already considered built-up area. In addition, about one-quarter of East Jerusalem is “temporarily” zoned as green areas, thus keeping the possibility for future Palestinian urban expansion to only 6.4%.  The planning team also recommended that Israel should turn the green areas in Jerusalem and its villages into areas for building settlements, thus forcing Palestinians to leave to the West Bank; that way, the Israeli Demographic project which would deprive Palestinians from having a political identity in Jerusalem‘will be accomplished.

 

 

 

 

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[1] Geo-Demographical Outlook for Jerusalem

<http://www.arij.org/publications/New%20publications/Papers/2008/geo-demographical-outlook-jerusalem.pdf>.

[2]  ‘عالم فلسطيني لـ’معا’: نجحنا في افشال المعركة الديموغرافية الصهيونية.
‘ Maan news Agency.14-12-2010. http://www.maannews.net/arb/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=341937.