House demolition cases and testimonies from Jerusalem

Photo 1: Bab Al Hawa- Beit Hanina: the wreckage of the 3 two-storey
buildings of Abu 'Arafa family

The municipality of occupied Jerusalem is continuing its policy of forced eviction and demolition of the houses of Palestinian Jerusalemites at the time that it continues to build and enlarge settlements to increase the settler population in it. In the meantime, it continues to build the Segregation Wall of annexation to engulf the lands of Palestinian Jerusalemites and to isolate what remains of them from their natural extensions in the north and south of the West Bank.   

It was shown in previous reports by the Land Research Center that what wasn't demolished by the Israeli tanks and jetfighters throughout the Palestinian Territory from Jenin to Rafah is being demolished by occupations' bulldozers. It is a well-known fact that the warplanes and tanks of the occupation army have demolished hundreds of houses and made thousands of Palestinians homeless in the Gaza Strip. The Israeli Army has used the same policy in its recent war on Lebanon as its war machinery demolished houses and terrorized its residents under the pretext that resistance rockets are launched from these houses, a lie that no sane person would believe. A question that follows logically is why civilians are being targeted after being ordered to leave their residence by the forces of the Israeli occupation. The only answer is that the Zionist mindset is a mixture of hatred and racism against anything that is not Jewish, including house, humans and trees.

Since the beginning of the year 2006 about 47 Jerusalemite houses have been demolished depriving, in the process, more than 300 individuals of their right to live in dignity and safety. The Land Research Center has documented the demolishing of 11 houses in the month of August, 2006, by the municipality of occupied Jerusalem using a number of weak pretexts such as building without the proper permit or due to the proximity of the houses to the Israeli Segregation Wall. The following are a number of cases containing victims' testimonies on house demolition during the months of May, June and August, 2006.  

Case (1)

The Demolition of the houses of Mr. Ghaleb Isma'il 'Arafa and his brothers.

The Municipality of occupied Jerusalem demolished on July 8th, 2006, 3 two-storey buildings in the region of Bab Al Hawa of Beit Hanina. The buildings belonged to Mr. Ghaleb Isma'il and his brothers. It consisted of 6 apartments the area of each is 250m2 built to shelter 6 families. The members of these families exceed 80 of whom more than 50% were children.

The Center's field worker made a field visit to the bereaved families on the day of the demolition. Mr. Ghaleb gave the following testimony: 'One of the neighbors called us and informed us that Municipality bulldozers were demolishing our homes. I raced to the place where the area was declared to be a Closed Area. Large numbers of security forces, Border Police and Special Forces along with heavy machinery was demolishing the houses'.  

The sons of Isma'il Arafa have already taken the needed legal steps against the demolition order as they have filed a court case against the decision of the Municipality and its court in front of the Israeli Central Court. In turn, the Central Court decided to allow a 5-month extension period for the Arafa brothers to get a municipality permit. Yet, the obstacles put forth by the Municipality prevented them from doing so. At the end of the extension, the Municipality went ahead and demolished the houses. Initially, the Municipality issued a demolishing order due to the fact that the houses were located in the route of the Isolation Wall in that area. Yet, after the re-routing of the Wall in that area to become more than 400 meters away from the Arafa houses, this pretext became invalid. Despite that, the Municipality insisted to demolish the house due to the lack of permit.

 
(Photo 2: Bab Al Hawa- Beit Hanina: prior to revision, the path
of the Wall was supposed to pass here)

Case (2)

The Demolition of the House of Mohammad Ja'bari Family

The Municipality demolished the houses of Mr. Mohammad Eid Ja'bari and his son Musa on the morning of the 9th of May, 2006. The demolished residence is located in Shu'fat east of Tal Al Fool tens of meters away from the Israeli settlement of Pisgat Ze'ev.

LRC's field worker conducted an interview with the bereaved family which indicated the following: 'The house was established in 2001 on a piece of land that we have bought. Almost immediately, Municipality employees handed a demolition order under the pretext that it was not authorized and that it is built in a Green Zone. That is despite the fact that a number of other houses are built in the same area'. See photo 3

The real reason behind the demolition of the house (area = 80 m2 and shelters 12 people) is the racist policy of the Israeli occupation, in addition to the position of Pisgat Ze'ev settlers who have mentioned on numerous public occasions that they didn't want to see any Palestinian houses in the vicinity of the settlement.

Case (3)

The Demolition of the Family of Ali Abu Tier's House

Bulldozers belonging to the Municipality of occupied Jerusalem demolished the house of Mr. Ali Khalil Abu Tier on June 20th, 2006 in the Al Mahjar location of the village of Umm Tuba south of Jerusalem. Mrs. Abu Tier, Khadeeja, told our field worker the following: 'At 8:00 AM on the morning of June 20th, 2006, we were taken aback by a large force from the Police and Border Police with a huge bulldozer. They have surrounded our house and forced me, my 3-year old and 5-month old sons out. We were kept away from the house until the demolition was over with. We have lived in the house for only one year. We had to work hard and borrow from our next-of-kins to finish it off. The bulldozer also uprooted two olive trees and tore down a 20-meter wall'.

Photo 3: Mrs. Abu Tier standing next to the tent replacing their demolished  house.

photo 4: Um Tuba: The house of Abu Tier after being demolished by the Israeli Bulldozer

Case (4)

The Demolition of the House of the Family of Ahamd Abu Al Hummus

A large Police and Border Police force encircled on July 1st, 2006, the house of Mr. Ahmad Abdullah Abu Al Hummus which is located in the Palestinian community of Al Issawiya. The goal was to demolish a room whose area does not exceed 20 m2 without any prior warning. The force did not allow the inhabitants of the house any time period to remove their belongings. The family resorted to build the room as a temporary measure to solve the chocking housing crisis as the family's 10 members (8 of which are children) live in two tiny rooms. Due to the large force used in the demolition, outside observers would have thought that the force have come to occupy Al Issawiya, not to demolish a tiny room.

photo 5: Al Issawiya: The ruins of Abu Al Hummu's house

photo 6: Al Issawiya: ruins of Abu Al hummus's house

photo 7: Al Issawiya's land devoured by the Segregation Wall

Yet again, Israeli Police in Jerusalem Cooperates with Rekheis Shu'afat Settlers:

At 6:30 AM on August 9th, 2006, the Municipality of Occupied Jerusalem amassed 6 giant bulldozers reinforced by more than 45 military jeeps carrying heavily armed Police, Border Police, Special Forces and members of the Israeli Intelligence. They surrounded a 4-story building (area = 1500 m2) located at Al Ras location west of Shu'fat. The building consisted of 10 apartments sold to 10 families with more than 8 individuals each. The owners of the apartments include Awad Abu Iqweider, Issa Hammad and Abeer Abu Khdair.

Once the building was surrounded, the attackers were surprised to find out that the owners of the building were successful in obtaining a provisional court order against the demolition on the 8th of August, 2006. The lawyers hired on behalf of the owners threatened to take all possible legal action against the commander of the force in case they have carried out the demolition. The demolition was halted as the two parties went to the court which held a special session for them on the same day. During the court hearing, engineers and Municipality employees were summoned by the lawyer as to show the court that the Municipality failed to live up to its promises and duties to implement a Master Plan north of Jerusalem in general and in Shu'fat specifically. That is despite the fact that such a Master Plan has been in the drawers of the Municipality for the past 25 years and despite the fact that 9 years ago the Municipality promised to produce a Master Plan for Shu'fat within two years in return for the Palestinian residents to withdraw their lawsuit against the Municipality. The Palestinians have filed suits against the plans of the Municipality because it did not take into consideration the needs of the population for building expansion.

 
Photo 8 & 9: Al Ras, Shu'fat: Abu Khdair's threatened residential building)

The judge denied the request of the Municipality, the Ministry of Interior and the General Prosecutor to nullify the provisional court order and, in turn, ordered the force surrounding the building to withdraw along with all the heavy machinery. On the other hand, it ordered the building owners to pay NIS 50,000 as a deposit as the Municipality have claimed that it sustained losses (in terms of fees) due to the surrounding operation!!

It is worth noting that the Municipality have issued a demolition order against the building in 2003, yet it was annulled by the court due to the lack of convincing reasons behind the order. The lawyer was able to prove that the reasons behind the demolition order were not legal or administrative. Rather, he was able to show the court a letter from Mikha Ibn Noon, the then Head of the Licensing Department at the Municipality, directed to the head of the Israeli Police in which he said that: 'The Society for the Development of Rekheis Shu'afat is threatening not to open the new school year unless the Municipality demolishes the building as it is a source of danger to the security of the settlement and its inhabitants due to its close proximity to the settlement'.

As such, the court issued its decision to nullify the decision on the ground that it was baseless. It, also, gave the owners of the building a year to obtain the necessary licenses and permits. Yet, the Ministry of Interior had prepared a list of accusations against the owners according to which the court fined them NIS 1 million. The amount was reduced to NIS 600,000 and was to be paid in monthly installments of NIS 14,000 each.    

Israeli Threat to Vacate the Building of Al A'amas Family in

Sur Baher:

On the 25th of July, 2006, a Police and Border Police force accompanied by Municipality employees encircled a 4-storey residential building (area = 1200 m2) inhabited by more than 40 individuals in Sur Baher. The Israeli force began taking photos of the building before demolishing it in the near future, which left the residents of the building in a state of panic and fear for their residence. It is worth noting that Mr. Mahmoud Al A'amas, the building owner, have received an order from the Municipality forcing him to pay NIS 50,000 in the Municipality's bank account until his request of obtaining a building license is considered. 

An Open Announcement to the Residents of Al Turi Neighborhood

The Municipality of occupied Jerusalem issued an advertisement in Al Quds newspaper on the 4th of August, 2006, aimed at threatening anyone to rent and/or buy in a specific house as it declared it to be illegal. The Municipality have had resorted to similar method more than once in the occupied Jerusalem in an attempt to fight Palestinian building there.

(photo 10: a copy of the ad published in Al Quds newspaper on Aug.4th, 2006)

Table 2

Housedemolition in Jerusalem during 2006 by month

From 1/1/2006 – 31/8/2006

 Source: Fieldwork by LRC

Prepared by
The Land Research Center
LRC