Under the pretext of building without a permit, Israeli occupation authorities are continuing their house demolition campaign in Jerusalem. During the month of February, 2009, the “Jerusalem Municipality” demolished 10 Palestinian houses in the following locations in Jerusalem; Dhahiyat Al Barid, Shu’fat Refugee Camp, Al Issawiya, Beit Hanina and At Tur. About 60 Palestinians have become homeless most of whom were children.
The policy of Palestinian house and shelter demolition in the occupied Palestinian territories, especially in Jerusalem, is considered to be in violation of the international treaties and norms and Geneva’s Fourth Convention. The main reason behind the lack of building permits issued for the Palestinians is the complicated bureaucratic red tape imposed by the Building and Planning Section at the Municipality. The current report indicates that some of the houses were demolished without being handed a legal court decision allowing the destruction of the houses. This fact can be seen as evidence of the intention of the Municipality to remove anything that is non-Jewish from the Holy City in an effort to make the City exclusively Jewish. Case in point is the fact that building permits for Jewish homes or even entire neighborhoods gets processed easily. The only “easy” step vis-à-vis Palestinian building in Jerusalem is its demolition for even the slightest violation. Issuing a building permit for Palestinians in East Jerusalem is a virtual impossibility. The following table lists the demolished houses per location in February 2009:
|
Location
|
No. of Demolished Houses
|
|
Dhahiyat Al Barid
|
2
|
|
Shuf’at Refugee Camp
|
4
|
|
Al Issawiya
|
2
|
|
Beit Hanina
|
1
|
|
At Tur
|
1
|
|
Total
|
10
|
Additional information regarding the demolitions are as follows.
1- Al JAbari Family Forced to Demolish its Own Building:
In February 2009, Al Jabari family was forced to demolish the building in which it was residing in in Dhahiyat Al Barid. Israeli occupation authorities forced them to do so under the pretext that their house is located close to the Israeli Racist Isolation Wall. The building consisted of two floors with a total area of 800 m2. The first floor contained 5 commercial shops while the second one had two under-construction apartments.
2- The Demolition of Ghaith Family Residence in Ras Khamis Neighborhood – Shu’fat refugee Camp:
On the 2nd of February, 2009, two bulldozers of the Jerusalem Municipality were accompanied by tens of Israeli soldiers who raided Ras Khamis Neighborhood in Shu’fat refugee camp in Jerusalem. The soldiers declared the area as “Closed Area” as the bulldozers started to demolish two residence houses belonging to the 65-year old Mr. Imran Ghaith and Mr. Nabil Ghaith.
Photo 1: The ruins of Mr. Imran Ghaith’s House.
One of the demolished structures is a two-story house owned by Mr. Imran Ghaith. The first story was done with only a month ago. Its area was 400 m2 as it consisted of 3 apartments to which 3 families were getting ready to move into them. The families were from the clans of Basala, Al Khateeb and Ghaith. The cost of building the first story was NIS 400,000. The second floor was still under construction when it was demolished by the Israeli occupation forces. Not only did the occupation forces demolish the two-story house, it also destroyed the building materials stored in a nearby place to be used later in the building process. The Racist Wall was established in Ras Khamis Neighborhood in 2003 and 2004 in an effort to severe its ties with occupied Jerusalem.
Photo 2: The Isolation Wall rises, while Palestinian building is reduced to rubble.
The second demolished house belonged to Mr. Nabil Ghaith. It was a small building whose area did not exceed 70 m2. Israeli occupation special masked forces were seen surrounding the building and trying to pick fights with Palestinians passing near the location of the house. The Municipality forces struck at the bases of the house and rendered them unusable for any future reconstruction.
Photo 3: An Israeli bulldozer demolishing the house of Mr. Nabil Ghaith
3- The demolition of the house of Hatem Khalil in Al Issawiya for the 3rd time:
On the 2nd of February, 2009 the Jerusalem Municipality demolished the house of the 31-year old Mr. Hatem Hussein Khalil in Al Mahraqa Al Sharqiya neighborhood of Al Issawiya. During the demolition, Mr. Khalil fell over from a height of 8 meters and broke his spine. Nevertheless, Israeli occupation soldiers began to beat him up despite his injuries. Earlier, Mr, Khalil spent 9 months in jail rather than paying a fine of NIS 55,000
Photo 4: The ruins of the house of Mr. Hatem Khalil – Al Issawiya
4- The demolition of the house of Mr. Musa Hamdan – Al Issawiya
On the 4th of February, 2009 the Jerusalem Municipality demolished the house of the 62-year old Mr. Musa Mohammad Abdullah Hamdan which used to be located east of Al Issawiya. The total area of the house was 100 m2. It consisted of 3 rooms, a bathroom and a kitchen accommodating Mr. Hamdan, his two wives and his 9 children.
Mr. Hamdan gave the following testimony to the Land Research Center (LRC)’s field researcher: ‘I did not commit any violation and there was no demolition order or notification whatsoever. I did not know of any intention by the Municipality to demolish my house. I was in a picnic with my family in Jericho when I received a phone call from my neighbors telling me that occupation forces are demolishing my house. I came to my house only to find it a collection of rubble and some scattered furniture here and there. They also uprooted 5 olive trees and 4 pomegranate trees as they destroyed my water cistern. I am puzzled; how can they demolish a house without any prior warning and without a court or legal order?!!!!’
5- The demolition of the house of Mr. Jamil Al Shalloody in Al Aqaba Neighborhood – Beit Hanina:
On the 14th of February. 2009 the Jerusalem Municipality forced the family of the 40-year old Mr. Jamil Abdel Hai Al Shalloody to demolish his house himself and on his own expense. He did so rather than having the Municipality to do it and fine him for the labor cost. The area of the house was 120 m2 divided into three rooms and its utilities. It used to house 7 Palestinians 5 of which were children.
Photo 5: The tent of Al Shalloody family atop the ruins of its house in Beit Hanina
6- The demolition of the house of Mr. Mohammad Al Sayyad in Al Tur:
On the 8th of February, 2009, the Jerusalem Municipality demolished the house of the 43-year old Mr. Mohammad Khaled Al Sayyad in Al Tur Neighborhood under the pretext of being built without a permit.
Around 100 masked Israeli occupation forces came along with the Municipality’s Building Monitoring Division to the Al Ghurs area of Al Sahl neighborhood at around 8:00 AM. The Commander immediately addressed Mr. Al Sayyad and said “Get out of the house. We have an order to demolish it.” Mr. Al Sayyad was denied the chance to remove his family belongings before the demolition started. The demolished house used to shelter 7 people of which 5 were children.
Photo 6: The ruins of the house of Mr. Al Sayyad
The following table lists all the demolitions that took place in East Jerusalem during the month of February, 2009.
|
Name
|
Location
|
Housing Units Demolished
|
Area
|
No. of Family Members
|
Children
|
Notes
|
|
Al Jabari Family
|
Dhahiyat Al Barid
|
2
|
800
|
N/A
|
N/A
|
The 1st floor consisted of commercial shops with an area of 400 m2.
|
|
Imran Ghaith
|
Shu’afat Camp
|
3
|
400
|
11
|
2
|
Three families were planning to move into the house.
|
|
Nabil Ghaith
|
Shu’afat Camp
|
1
|
70
|
N/A
|
N/A
|
|
|
Hatem Khalil
|
Al Issawiya
|
1
|
120
|
6
|
2
|
|
|
Mohammad Hamdan
|
Al Issawiya
|
1
|
100
|
9
|
5
|
|
|
Jamil Al Shalloody
|
Beit Hanina
|
1
|
120
|
7
|
5
|
|
|
Khaled Al Sayyad
|
Al Tur
|
1
|
140
|
7
|
5
|
|
|
TOTAL
|
|
10
|
1750
|
40
|
19
|
|
Prepared by:
The Land Research Center
LRC
The Land Research Center
LRC
