Background
Throughout the prolonged 42 years of the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian Territory, East Jerusalem has always been a main target for the Israeli policy that aim to isolate Jerusalem from the rest of the occupied territory and squeeze it Jerusalemites residents out of it; by force if necessary. To that end, the Israeli Municipality of Jerusalem carried out systematic campaign against the Palestinian houses in the Eastern part of the City of Jerusalem, which started immediately after the 1967 war when the Israeli occupation bulldozers demolished more than 700 Palestinian houses in the Palestinian quarter of “Bab Al Magharbeh” in Old city of Jerusalem to establish the Jewish quarter to settle in the Israeli settlers on the ruins of Palestinian houses.
The Israeli policy of demolishing the Palestinian houses has been a non-stop activity for the Israeli municipality in Jerusalem, and since 1967 until now, thousands of the Palestinian houses had been demolished under the pretext of lacking building permits.
A Battle of Existence
During the past few years, specifically since the year 2001, there was an escalation in the number of houses that were demolished and of other Palestinian residents receiving demolishing orders. Since the beginning of 2009, the number of the threatened and demolished Palestinian houses in East Jerusalem became phenomenal and indicates persistence despite all efforts led by the international community to put an end to this illegal situation, which if continued maybe classified nothing less than ‘ethnic cleansing’ situation. Its worth mentioning that since January 2009, the Israeli Municipality of Jerusalem had allocated 1.2 million shekels for monitoring the development of Palestinian structures in Jerusalem using Arial photos, which will dramatically lead to a drastic increase in the number of demolition orders that target Palestinian houses in the occupied city.
Furthermore, since January 1, 2009 until November 30, 2009, the Israeli Municipality of Jerusalem had issued more than 905 demolition orders for Palestinian residential houses in East Jerusalem, more than 70 of which executed so far.
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On November 8, 2009, the Israeli Municipality handed over administrative demolition orders for the owners of 17 Palestinian Jerusalem houses in the neighborhoods of Al-Bustan, ‘Ain Allouza and Al-Yaman, under the pretexts of lacking building permits.
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On November 9, 2009, the Israeli Municipality of Jerusalem handed 10 demolition orders for Palestinian houses in Al-Isawyieh town at the eastern parts of the city of Jerusalem under the pretext of lacking proper authorization.
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On November 10, 2009, the Israeli Municipality of Jerusalem issued 25 demolition orders for a building for 25 Palestinian houses in Tal Al-Ful neighborhood in Beit Hanina under the pretext of lacking building permits. The threatened apartments are a home of 25 Jerusalemite families and populated by 170 residents.
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On November 17, 2009, the Israeli bulldozers of the Israeli Municipality of Jerusalem and without a prior notification had demolished the 120-meter square house of the Palestinian resident ‘Atiyya Mohammad Hasan Al-Qarra’een in Al-Aqaba neighborhood in Beit Hanina under the pretext of lacking building permit. Later on and in the same day, the Israeli bulldozers demolished another Palestinian house (for the second time), in Wadi Qaddoum neighborhood in Ras Al ‘Amoud area. The owner of the demolished house is Mr. Jibreen Nassar.
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On November 17, 2009, the Israeli Municipality of Jerusalem Issued a new demolition orders for eight houses in Jabal Al-Mukkabir and in Tal Al-Ful neighborhood in Beit Hanina.
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On November 18, 2009, the bulldozers of the Israeli Municipality of Jerusalem demolished two apartments and two stores in Al-Isawyieh town owned by the local residents Mr. Ibrahim Mahmud Dari and Mr. Abdel Haleem Ahmad Dari under the pretext of lacking building permits.
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Since the beginning of year 2009 until the end of November 2009, the Israeli Municipality of Jerusalem had issued more than 880 administrative demolition orders for Palestinian houses in Jerusalem city.
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Furthermore, the municipality has executed more than 70 demolition orders, of which, 13 were Bedouin barracks and tents, 2 walls, 1 garage, 3 warehouse, and 2 offices and a Gas station.
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On November 22, 2009, the Israeli Occupation Authorities targeted 25 Palestinian houses in Samiramis neighborhood north of Jerusalem city with new demolition orders allegedly for lacking proper building Authorization from the Israeli Municipality of Jerusalem. See Map 1
Map 1: Targeted Palestinian Communities in Jerusalem Governorate
There is no doubt that the Israeli Municipality of Jerusalem is adopting a discriminative policy against Palestinian residency in the city of Jerusalem, in terms of zoning, building codes, building permits and overall service, where as facilitating the illegal Israeli settlers’ construction in occupied East Jerusalem despite the fact that the settlers’ existence there is illegal and contradictory to international law.
Moreover, the demolition of Palestinian structures is carried out for the simplest “violations” of the given permit while Israeli infringements are met with leniency, and more tolerance.
Legal & International Status
Israel continues to displace the Palestinian Jerusalemites with a relentless demolishing campaign in violation of international law, to uproot as many Palestinians from their homes and lands and to build more Illegal Israeli settlements, and emphasize Jewish supremacy in the occupied city, and to undermine the status of East Jerusalem to be the Capital for the future Palestinian state.
The Israeli policy in Jerusalem and the destruction of the Palestinians’ properties is contrary to international humanitarian law rules and conventions, particularly the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949.
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Article 147 of the Fourth Geneva Convention and Article 23 of the Hague Convention of 1907 indicates that ‘ Extensive destruction and appropriation of property not justified by military necessity and carried out unlawfully and wantonly, is a grave breach of the Convention’.
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Article 53 of the same convention which also states that ‘any destruction by the Occupying power of real or personal property belonging individually or collectively to private persons, or to the State, or other public authorities or social or cooperative organizations is prohibited, except where such destruction is rendered absolutely necessary by military operations.’
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Also the universal Declaration of Human Rights Adopted and proclaimed by General Assembly resolution 217 A (III) of, December 10, 1948, Article 17 reads that ‘No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his property.’ Which means it bans Israel from destroying or confiscating the property of the Palestinians at any case.
Furthermore, the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (1965) Article 5 provides that ‘States’ Parties undertake to prohibit and eliminate racial discrimination in all of its forms and to guarantee the right of everyone, without distinction as to race, color, or national or ethnic origin, to equality before the law, notably in the enjoyment of the following rights: … (e) in particular … (iii) the right to housing’.
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