Preface:
Most of the Palestinian neighborhoods in the Occupied City of Jerusalem were targeted by Israeli attacks during March, 2012. The attacks included violations of their right to adequate housing, by demolishing some residences and threatening others. Also, many aggressions against individuals, including children, took place in March, these attacks included physical and verbal abuse as well as imprisonment and torture. Coherently, Israeli troops and/or colonists broke into several neighborhoods, attacking shops, residences as well as imposing fines and penalties among many other humiliating practices.
The Right to Residency…House Demolitions
The Israeli Occupation Municipality in Jerusalem forces a Palestinian to demolish her house.
On March 12, 2012, the Israeli Municipality in the Occupied City forced Farrah family to demolish their residence in Beit Hanina under threats of imposing further fines. The son of the owner, Sana Farrah, was forced to demolish the residence which was built 7 years earlier. He demolished a kitchen, a toilet, and a bedroom with a total area of 30 m2.
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Demolishing his own house – Beit Hanina
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Demolition order
The Right to Residency…Seizure Attempts
Bullies needed to remove Palestinians!
‘Bullies needed, men with strong physical shape and specialists in lock-picking and breaking into house. Also, truck drivers and porters are needed, preferably those who served in the army to oust Palestinians’. The godfather of Israeli colonization, Arieh King, announced that on March 21, 2012 calling for colonists to do what the Israeli law failed to, kicking Palestinians out of their homes.
Tens of Israeli colonists abuse Abu Janba family while in their home in Al Sheikh Jarrah:
On March 10, 2012, tens of colonists broke into Abu Janba family residence in Al Sheikh Jarrah, in the Occupied City. When asked about the purpose, the colonists sprayed the members of the family with gas and beat them before fleeing.
Al Sabbagh family is holding on to its residence:
In March, 2012, the Israeli Court confirmed Al Sabbagh family right in their residence but ordered them to evacuate the extension (two tool-sheds with a total area of 60 m2) without expressing the reasons for that and without considering the construction license annex or the fact that the land is owned by Al Sabbagh and there have been no dispute over its ownership.
Threatening to capture Al Natsha family residences:
Al Natsha family is being threatened of being evicted of their home which will be handed to colonists. Khaled al Natsha (the owner) wife said in a statement: ‘ we have ownd the plot for over 77 years, my father in law bought this plot in 1935, for years he used part of it for a block production workshop and the rest was used for cultivation. In 1998, a 95-m2 house was raised on the ruins of the workshop and in 2003, another house was built. 3 years later, we added a small house for my son Suleiman. We are two families, 14 members including 7 children’.
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Target plot
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Khaled’s residence
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ٍSuleiman’s residence
The Right to Residency…Demolition Threats
A demolition order for al Joulany:
On March 25, 2012, the Israeli Municipality in the Occupied City handed Mohammad al Joulany (38) a demolition order for his residence in Beit Hanina on the pretext of unlicensed construction. The two bedroom residence is 70 m2 and shelters the family which included 4 children.
Threatened residence
Plowings and Demolitions
Maintenance in the Old City is too slow and is done in winter!
The Israeli Municipality in the Occupied City blocked the road connecting Bab Hutta and Al Salahiyya in the Old City and turned it upside down while claiming its renovating infrastructure. It is not strange for a municipal body to do so but it is strange when it is done very slowly and in the middle of the hardest and coldest winter in years which added to the suffering of the residents instead of relieving them.
Never ending maintenance – Old City |
Colonization and Confiscation
Blocking Al ‘Izariyya road:
The Israeli Occupation Authorities intend to block Al ‘Izariyya road (from al ‘Izariyya to Jerusalem and from Beit Hanina to Jericho) in order to facilitate capturing lands on both sides of the road which will serve the expansion of Ma’ale Adummim colony.
The cancerous expansion of the colony is ongoing in Ras al Ayazra area (over 4000 dunums) which is owned by families of Al ‘Izariyya (42,000 people benefit from the area.)
Segregation Wall
The Israeli plan to continue the construction of the wall and reinstate residences… a double war crime:
The Israeli Occupation Authorities are planning to confiscate more of Abu Dis lands and evict a number of inhabitants and reinstate them somewhere else.
A detailed project plan that included reinstating more than 2300 Bedouins residing in areas classified ‘C’ according to Oslo all around Jerusalem.
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Reinstating plan
Isam Faroun, Abu Dis Municipal Council Chief, stated: ‘Al Shakhaleeb lands among other target areas are private properties which had been planted annually before being left due to numerous Israeli orders. Today, the Israelis claim that the lands have been abandoned’. The plan includes reinstating 2000 Bedouins in a 1000-dunum-plot and adding another 2000 who will be forcefully evicted from certain areas around Jerusalem. This means evicting them from their dwelling which they lived in for over sixty years. It also means complete negligence to the UN resolutions regarding Palestinian refugees and the right to return since most of these Bedouins are refugees who were forced to leave their dwellings in Negev in 1950. The wall, on the other hand, will isolate Abu Dis and detach it from Jerusalem; the Israeli confiscations in Abu Dis has so far left the town with only 4800 dunums out of 28,000 dunums, its total area.
Siege and Blockade:
An iron gate for Beit Iksa:
On March 10, 2012, the Israeli Occupation Army placed an iron gate on Beit Iksa entrance.
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The iron gate splitting Beit Iksa
The gate split the town in two; on May 28, 2012, the Israeli Occupation Army placed a similar gate on the eastern entrance of the village, nearby Ramot colony. Placement of the second gate rendered more than 2000 dunums and 7 residences inaccessible except by foot.
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Aggressions on Religious Sites:
An Attack on a Muslim Cemetery:
On March 25, 2012, a number of Israeli colonists (17) broke into Bab Al Rahma Cemetery and conducted some ‘religious’ rituals before breaking some of the gravestones. The Israeli Police was present at the time of the incident but not to stop the shameful act. This comes after the surface of a plan to transform the cemetery into a ‘biblical park’ that connects Al Aqsa Mosque, the so-called City of Davidin Silwan.
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Israeli Soldeirs break into Al Aqsa Mosque Court:
On Mrach 28, 2012, 3 Israeli units broke into the Al Aqsa Mosque Court; around 100 soldiers in their uniforms toured the court before leaving. These ‘tours’ are classified as touristy but in fact they are provocative. The Palestinian Waqf condemned these ‘tours’ and considered them provocative, disrespectful and defiling knowing that such provocation sparkled clashes between worshippers and the Israeli Police in the last month.
A whole in the wall:
The Israeli Municipality in the Occupied City and the Israeli Ministry of Antiques opened a huge door in the northern section of the Old City wall which was built by Suleiman the Magnificent in 1543 and which is also classified as a world heritage site by the UNESCO. The new opening is claimed to be needed for emergencies though it is not clear what kind of emergencies or how it can serve that purpose. In truth, this is part of the Israeli plans to modify the City and forge history. It must be noted that all work in the site was hidden from the public!
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The so-called emergency exit
Fake graves:
Placement of phony graves in Palestinian lands for the purpose of capturing them has become a trend lately. On the other hand, colonists turned a the children cemetery in Silwan upside down without being stopped by any official body.
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Fake graves
Violations against individuals:
Penalties:
On March 17, 2012, the Israeli Police set a number of checkpoints in Al Bustan Neighborhood, checking IDs and fining them for the simplest of reasons. The campaign caused traffic jam, delaying people’s business.
On March 28, 2012, Israeli Police and officers of the Tax Authority raided a number of commercial shops in Silwan fining a number of them for various reasons or no reasons at all; they also closed a construction materials shop.
Attacks on school students:
On March 10, 2012, clashes erupted in At Tur when Israeli Police officers harassed pupils on their way out of school. The police launched a number of sound grenades and spread the ‘Musta’rebeen’ unit around. At night, the Israeli Police raided the neighborhood and arrested:
Mohammad abu al Hawa (16).
Tayseer abu al Hawa (19).
Majdi al Sayyad (17).
They were all taken to the Police precinct in Saladin Street and were held captives for hours. On March 28, 2012, the Israeli Police arrested Muaz Ubaidiyya (13) while he was leaving his school in Shu’fat. The Police claimed that he impeded them with rocks.
However, an eyewitness stated: ‘there were no clashes whatsoever, and know one threw any rocks! Their presence there is needless and provocative and it is only intended to start clashes with the citizens’.
In Silwan, an Israeli Patrol broke into the school looking for a kid who impeded them with rocks; they were looking for a kid with red shoes! However, the only purpose of such a raid is spreading fear among children.
Many children who were arrested throughout the years revealed later that the Israeli Intelligence Agency tried to bully them in order to ‘persuade’ them to be recruited as collaborators.
The Israeli Police uses Palestinian cars for arrests:
On March 26, 2012, the Israeli Police broke into Al ‘Isawiyya from different angles; they threw a umber of sound grenades, attacked some people, and arrested a number of children. Several eyewitnesses said that stated that olice officers stopped a car and ordered the driver to step out and said that they will take his car for ‘security reasons’. They used the car to get closer to the youth gatherings and took five of them into custody. The Israeli Police brutally dismantles a peaceful demonstration marking ‘Land Day’:
On March 30, 2012, Israeli Authorities deployed a large number of troops around the Old City to prevent people from getting to the Al Aqsa Mosque.
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Troops barricading the way to the old City
At noon, the Palestinians prayed the Friday prayers and demonstrated peacefully, waving Palestinian flags. The Israeli troops responded by throwing tear gas and sound grenades towards them as well as spraying demonstrators with pepper gas. Mounted units also intervened in an attempt to dismantle the crowds. They also sprayed the crowd, which became furious, with hot and stinky water. Clashes erupted and spread to nearby areas later on. A number of injuries due to suffocation or rubber bullets were reported.
Eyewitnesses in Al ‘Isawiyya said that the Israeli troops attacked Palestinians with bats, beating them on the hands and legs with an intention to break bones. A large-scale arresting campaign took place at night. Attacking a peaceful demonstration and verbally and physically abusing the crowd is a crime against one of the basic rights of human beings, the right to assembly.
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Attacks on land day
Aggressions against the right to education
A new curriculum based on loyalty and recognition of the so-called ‘Israeli State’:
Attacks on the education sector, though not physical are extremely dangerous. Recently, the Israelis have turned their efforts towards changing the curriculum in the Arab schools in the Occupied City. The Israeli Education Department sent a letter to all the schools in Jerusalem warning them of the consequences of using any curriculum other than the one given to them by the Israeli Municipality in the Occupied City.
On March 7, 2012, ‘Lara Embarki’, head of the ‘Arab Schools Directorate’ sent a letter to all school principals demanding posting the Israeli Statement of Independence with a detailed explanations of the ‘values’ it holds in visible places in the schools. In addition, they demanded from principals to provide them with the number of books needed to finish the transformation. One of the suggested books is ‘being citizens of Israel’ which explains the statement of independence and elaborates on the Jewish state etc.
This new ethnic cleansing policy tends to detach Palestinians living in Jerusalem from their history and culture. It is dangerous because it fills the minds of children with useless, false, and misguiding information and also because it forges history.
Jerusalem is part of the Palestinian lands occupied in 1967 whether being annexed by Israel or not, whether that being recognized by Israel or not. Changing the curriculum is yet another crime to be added to the long list of crimes against humanity that were committed by the brutal and unethical entity. Every nation has its own history and culture and no one, absolutely no one has the right to change that or forcing its own culture, if they had any, on the other.
However, here, the assailant is an occupation that has neither culture nor history and they are trying to take over not only land but also claim the culture of the nation they occupied as their own.
