During November, 2010, the Israeli Occupation Municipality in Jerusalem demolished four Palestinian residences under the pretext of “no permits”. Two of the structures were in Al ‘Isawiyya, others in At Tur and Al Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood.
Details:
Case 1: the demolition of the Zablahs residence:
Violation: the demolition of a house that sheltered a 7-member-family that included 4 children.
Date: November 24, 2010.
Location: Khallit al ‘Ein – At Tur.
Victims: ‘Aziz Zablah and his family.
Perpetrators: the Israeli Occupation Municipality in Jerusalem.
The Israeli Occupation Municipality in Jerusalem unleashed its heavy machinery to destroy the Zablahs residence located in Khallit al ‘Ein in At Tur. The Municipality justified the act by claiming that the house was built without permit.
At 8:30 am, on November 24, 2010, more than 300 Israeli police officers and border police soldiers broke into ‘Aziz Zablah’s residence. The force evicted ‘Aziz’s wife, who was alone in the house, and prevented her from contacting anyone. The demolition force cleared some of the contents of the house in a way that rendered it useless and demolished the house with most of the contents still inside.
‘I built the house in 2002; a year later, the municipality officers showed up and fined me 25000 NIS for building without permit. My wife was sick the day of the hearing session, she could not show up so the judge sentence was a 25000 NIS fine and an extra 1000 because she did not appear before him. He also ordered the demolition of the house unless we were able to acquire the needed permit. We are members in Khallit al ‘Ein organizational plan; it is a project implemented by At Tur Development Society. The Society was able to receive commitment from the Municipality that they will not demolish any houses. I, like any other member, paid 8000 NIS as membership fees and I paid 12000 NIS for the water works through Beit Hanina Development society. However, they demolished the house and the whole project was halted.”
‘Aziz’s son, Abdul Rahman (11), replied when asked about the reason he is not in school by saying:” they demolished our house; I came back from school and found no house, no books, no toys. They demolished the house with everything inside. Last night, I slept with my father in the car nearby the remains of our house.”
Picture 1: one of ‘Aziz’s sons checking the remains of his toys in the rubble
Case 2: the Israeli Occupation Municipality in Jerusalem house demolition campaign is unstoppable:
Violation: the demolition of an under-construction house without any prior warning..
Date: November 30, 2010.
Location: Al ‘Isawiyya.
Victim: ‘Atiyya Mteir.
Perpetrators: the Israeli Occupation Municipality in Jerusalem.
Israeli Police officers accompanied by K-9 units and demolition vehicles launched a demolition campaign on November 30, 2010. At 8:30 am, tens of Israeli vehicles, followed by a jackhammer and a dozer, headed towards the southern parts of Al ‘Isawiyya. They completely destroyed an under-construction house with a total area of 120 m2. The structure belonged to ‘Atiyya Mter who was absent at the hour of the attack and who said later that he had never received any demolition order. The house construction has begun two years earlier.
Case 3: house demolition, aggressions, and injuries:
Violation: the demolition of an under-construction cement structure.
Date: November 30, 2010.
Location: Al ‘Isawiyya.
Victim: Mohammad Ulayyan.
Perpetrators: the Israeli Occupation Municipality in Jerusalem.
Soon after the completion of the demolition of Mteir’s structure, the same force moved towards Al Hariqa parcel where it closed all the entrances and totally besieged the area. The Jackhammer destroyed a 32-meter square-structure, the property of Mohammad Ulayyan (27). Robeen Ulayyan, Mohammad’s father was an eyewitness, he stated: “ we had previously received an administrative order soon after the completion of the construction and another order during October, 2010. The jackhammer uprooted the building using its arm. The force brutally suppressed our objection using rubber bullets and Gas grenades. They had also unleashed their dogs on us. A rubber bullet hit Ghassan Ulayyan (30) in the skull cracking it and breaking its nose. It also caused a concussion. He was sent to Sh’ar Zedeq hospital and he is still there.”
More than ten soldiers attacked Robin Ulayyan causing bruises in his face, shoulders, and his whole body. Also, the claws of the dogs left a permanent mark on his body. 5 Palestinian women nearly suffocated due to the intensive use of gas. The incident outraged the youth living in the area. The Israeli force soaked the location, a residential neighborhood full of elders, children, and women, with more than 150 gas bombs and withdrew after the accomplishment of their mission.
Case 4: the Municipality officer photographed the demolition order, took it off, and left the scene:
Violation: the demolition of a Palestinian house that sheltered a 9-member-family that included 6 children.
Date: November 30, 2010.
Location: Al Sheikh Jarrah Neighborhood.
Victim: Mohammad Sub Laban.
Perpetrators: the Israeli Occupation Municipality in Jerusalem.
On November 30, 2010, the Israeli Occupation Municipality in Jerusalem demolished an 80-meter square- house that sheltered a 9-member-family. The house belonged to Mohammad Sub Laban. During a visit of an LRC observer, the family stated : “my father built the house while he had cancer; he liked sitting on the wooden veranda which was pulled away and destroyed. When one of us threatened the contractor that we will break the tree, he replied by swearing and threatening. We were shocked to see the police, the special forces and the municipality officers demolition the house. 3 weeks earlier, I saw a municipality officer putting a paper on the door, taking a picture, and then ripping it off. When I asked what was that he replied in a very rude way, mind your own business! The manual demolition lasted from 10:30 am till 4:00 pm.”
Prepared by
The Land Research Center
LRC
The Land Research Center
LRC
