On February 12, 2004, the Israeli bulldozers raided Al-Khader village in Bethlehem district at approximately 8:00 am under extensive security cover provided by the Israeli occupation forces -IOF-. The raid intended to demolish three Palestinians residences located west of the village. The owners of the targeted houses were handed ''demolition notice'' from the Israeli Army about 10 weeks ago. The owners have taken a counter step towards the demolition notices and filed a counter case at the Israeli Supreme Court to halt the demolition from happening. The case is supposedly still deliberated in the courthouse where no decision regarding the case was corroborated to this day.
Apparently, the Israeli Army accelerated the process and decided to take the matter upon their responsibility as they decided to carry out the order immediately. The demolition process is an indicator to what is coming ahead, as the construction pace of the Segregation Wall in Bethlehem district is ever increasing in-which the IOF has so little time to indulge the Israeli selective democracy.
The Targeted Houses
The houses set for demolition by the Israeli Army are located at close perimeter where the Segregation Wall (100 meters) that will encircle Bethlehem district from the West. Preparation for the Segregation Wall has been undergoing for some time as the route of the Wall has been cleared off all obstacles that included uprooting hundreds of fruitful trees (mostly Olive trees) for constructing a security path and watchtowers and most recently demolition of three houses (accommodating 22 people) for allegedly being built without licensing. The demolished houses belonged to two families of Al-Khader village in an area called ''Abu S'oud''; the first of which is located southwest of the village and the other two houses are located west. See Photo 1, Photo 2 ,
Gone in 60 Minutes
That is what the owners of the demolished houses kept repeating. Mohammad Mousa Joudeh Subiah, a taxi driver and father of 5 girls and 1 boy and the owner of the house located southwest of Al-Khader village was notified by the IOF to demolish his house which he built one year ago. Mohammad has filed a case to halt the demolition order with the Israeli Supreme Court and the case is still under deliberation for a final decision. Thursday morning, February 12, 2004, the 120 meters square house was demolished by the Israeli Army even though no decision was reached yet by court. See Photo 3 & photo 4
The other two houses belong to three families located west of Al-Khader village. The first house belongs to Ali Saleem Mousa, a farmer (retired) and he lived with his wife and daughters in a 150 meters square house built 15 months ago. The other dwelling is a two story building (300 meters square) where Ali's two sons lived Mahammod (family of 7) and Ahmad (family of 6) both unemployed due to current unsettling condition). Ali, Mohammad & Ahmad also received notifications by the IOF to demolish their houses and they filed a counter case with the Israeli Supreme court to halt the decision. They too were not meant to see a day in court as the IOF accelerated the process to their end. See Photo 5
The inhabitants of the demolished houses (men, women, and children and elders) were beaten and placed in temporary custody at an Israeli military camp as they attempted to protest the demolishing process. They were released later on when the IOF completed bulldozing the houses.
Prepared by:
The Applied Research Institute – Jerusalem
