Photo 1: members of Hadidun family standing in front of
their demolished house – Jabal Al Mukaber
their demolished house – Jabal Al Mukaber
Introduction:
The Israeli municipality of the occupied Jerusalem continued its policy of house demolition during the month of April, 2009 where four houses were destroyed in different locations in the city as followed: two in Burj Allaqlaq inside the old city, one in Sur Baher and one in Jabel Al Mukaber. This has resulted in the displacement of 23 Palestinian Jerusalemite civilians, of whom 14 of are children. The latest demolitions came in the aftermath of the formation of the new Israeli extremist government led by Nitinyaho and Liberman who accelerated all sorts of demolition, settlement and land grabbing with the aim of imposing new realities on the ground to prevent the success of any future peace talks with Palestinians.
Map 1
Table 1: Demolition summary in Jerusalem by locations: April, 2009
| Number of houses | Location |
| 1 | Sur Baher |
| 1 | Jabel Al Mukaber |
| 2 | Burj Allaqlaq, Old city |
| 4 | Total |
The demolition of Duwayat family’s home- Sur Baher:
On the 7th of April, 2009, the Israeli occupation forces implemented the order of the so-called ‘Ministry of Defense’ and had demolished the family house of martyr Hussam Ibrahim Shehadeh Duwayat, 30 years old, in Sour Baher village, South of Jerusalem. The demolished house is in the upper floor of a three storey residential building and five individuals used to live in it, including two children.
Causes of Demolition: Collective punishment for the family of Hussam Duwayat who was killed by Israeli soldiers on 2/7/2008 for allegedly hitting a group of Israelis as he was driving a bulldozer in West Jerusalem. Initially, the demolition order included the other two apartments that are possessed by his father, Taysir, which are 300 meter squares in a building that consists of 3 floors and in which 14 persons live. But, after he levied a petition to the Israeli Higher Court against the demolition decision, the court judged for demolition of one apartment – the north one in the upper floor- after submitting a proof that the other two apartment were not used by the martyr Hussam. This is considered a collective punishment for the innocents. This kind of punishment is prohibited by the international norms, conventions and laws. Hussam was instantly killed on the spot without verifying the content and the merits of the incident and hence, he was not condemned in a formal and legal way. Even though he was condemned, it wasn’t acceptable to punish his family for his personal action.
Photo 2: Sur Baher: Duwayat family’s house before demolition –
Photo 3: Duwayat family’s house after demolition.
Demolition of Hadidun family’s house- Jabal Al Mukaber:
On the 22nd of April, 2009, Israeli municipality employees accompanied by personnel for border guard units and special task forces demolished the house of the civilian A’mmar Salameh Hadidun, 37 years, under the pretext of un-licensing. He and his five children whose ages range between 18 months and 12 years used to live in the house which is located in Khalet Ala’bed, Jabal Al Mukaber, and it was built in the year 2004.
Without prior warning the military personnel forced their way into the house through windows paying no respect to the privacy of its occupants. They expelled the wife- Samya- and her five children and apprehended them under the sun, then they threw the furniture out in a brusque (bad) way which led to the destruction of most of it. They used a bulldozer and big hammer to demolish the house.
Photo 4: Jabal Al Mukaber: the furniture of Hadidun family thrown outside
Demolition of Fakhoury family’s two houses – Burj Alaqlaq:
On the 6th of April, 2009, Israeli municipality employees accompanied by personnel for border guard units and special task forces demolished the two apartments that belong to brothers ‘Ammar and ‘Omran Alfakhoury under the pretext of un-licensing. ‘Ammar’s family is formed of 5 members, three of them are children, whereas ‘Omran’s family is formed of six members four of them are children. All of the occupants were made homeless because of the Israeli action. The building is located in Burj Alaqlaq in the north eastern corner of the Old City. It was built out of brick and ceiled from Zinko sheets. It consists of two small flats, each one consists of a bed room, kitchen and toilet.
The occupation authorities used manual tools such as axes because the place was narrow and the construction was weak. Local people tried to demolish the houses with their hands to save the families paying the cost of demolition which ranges between 15-25 thousand Shekels, but the were prevented by the Israeli police.
Photo 5: ruins of the Fakhoury family’s houses
Table 2: House demolition in Jerusalem by location, name of owner and number of family members – April, 2009
| Of whom children | No of family members | Number of houses | Location | Name |
| 2 | 7 | 1 | ٍSur Baher | Taysir Ibrahim Shehadeh Duwayat |
| 5 | 5 | 1 | Jabal Al Mukaber | ‘Ammar Salameh Hadidun |
| 3 | 7 | 1 | Burj Alaqlaq | ‘Amar Alfakhoury |
| 4 | 6 | 1 | Burj Alaqlaq | ِ‘Omran Alfakhoury |
| 14 | 23 | 4 |
Total
|
|
Table 3: Summary of House demolition in Jerusalem since the beginning of 2009
|
Number of houses
|
Family members | Month |
| 4 | 40 | January |
| 13* | 100* | February |
| 9 | 62 | March |
| 4 | 23 | April |
| 30 | 225 | Total |
* Three houses are tents that the Sayayleh Bedouin lived in. The Sayayleh area is located between Mt. Olives and Ezariya ( Bethany) areas. As a result, about 40 persons were made homeless of whom more than half are children.
Prepared by:
The Land Research Center
LRC
The Land Research Center
LRC
