Two reports from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs show more house demolitions in East Jerusalem. The Palestinian side says the intent is to displace the Arab residents.
Evictions continue in East Jerusalem
EAST JERUSALEM, 20 March 2007 (IRIN) - Two months ago, the 12 members of the Abdullah family awoke at 7.30am to find their home in East Jerusalem surrounded by 2,000 Israeli soldiers.
They were hustled out as two bulldozers from the Jerusalem Municipality tore it down – leaving them to face the winter cold with just a canvas Red Cross tent for shelter.
"We have no money to rent a flat here and no relatives who can take us in. Years of saving money and work disappeared in 30 minutes," said Milouk Abdullah, a 55-year-old scrap-metal dealer.
Abdullah’s house in Al Tur, on the city’s hilly eastern outskirts, was officially demolished because the family built it without a permit – a rule that Israel insists applies equally to everyone regardless of race or religion.
The Jerusalem Municipality and Sabine Haddad, spokeswoman for the ministry of the interior, said the law applied equally to all residents.
In a statement, the Jerusalem Municipality said plans were under way to increase Palestinians’ building rights and build a 2,700-unit neighborhood for Palestinians in the Givat Hamatos area. It added that many illegal buildings were unsafe and as such constituted a risk to their inhabitants.
Most of those affected move in with relatives, rent alternative accommodation or wind up in camps in the West Bank. Almost their only assistance is emergency ‘house destruction kits’ from the Red Cross, which include mattresses and tinned food as well as a tent.
The Israel Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD), a non-governmental lobby group says Israel has since built 90,000 homes for Jews in East Jerusalem, in order, they claim, to maintain a 72:28 percent majority of Jews over Arabs in the city.
Tens of thousands more residents of East Jerusalem live under the threat of becoming homeless – 15,000 buildings in the area are considered illegal and have demolition orders hanging over them, although it is uncertain when or if those demolitions will take place.
Rest of report is here,
http://www.irinnews.org/...
There are arguments on each side. But if the government’s practice of building new homes is for Jewish residents only then the perception is that the building permit policy is there to kick out the Arabs. Jewish residents living in new houses don’t need building permits. Arab residents in old houses do.
Here’s another UN report that tells what happened to this lady’s family after house demolition.
Kazim Abdullah, East Jerusalem, "I’ve never felt such cold before"
EAST JERUSALEM, 20 March 2007 (IRIN) - Palestinian mother Kazim Zohoudi Abdullah, 48, lives with her family in a tent supplied by the Red Cross after the Jerusalem Municipality demolished their home because it was built without a permit.
"The conditions are so bad that our three youngest children - Anin, 6, Abdullah, 8, and Alia, 12 - can no longer live with us. After a couple of weeks we had to take them to hospital because they got serious flu. Now they live with my in-laws.
"I’m so sad because I hardly see them. They are supposed to come every Wednesday but they didn’t come this week because it was too cold for them.
"My 29-year-old son Anam’s wife and their baby son have also moved out – but he has stayed to help.
"The cold is also affecting my health – the joints in my legs are getting very stiff and I’m having trouble moving. Perhaps if it were summer we might be able to deal with things a bit better, but it is winter and it’s just impossible.
"I have two boys of marriage age and things were going well. Alim is 21 and he had a girl he was hoping to marry. But now we don’t have a house, her parents are no longer interested.
"For myself, I can no longer leave the tent. The Israelis demolished our house without giving us a chance to take our stuff and my identity card was buried under the rubble. I have been given a piece of paper instead but there is no picture on it and at the checkpoints the Israeli soldiers will not let me through.
Rest of report is here,
http://www.irinnews.org/...
Reports and pictures downloaded from IRIN and reprinted according to copyright policy.