Israeli demolition of Palestinian houses in Jerusalem continued unabated during 2005

30,January,2006

    

 

1. The announcement of the new Master Plan for the years 2000-2020 which aims at crossing out the city as an Arab Islamic and Christian city to guarantee the impossibility of making it a future Palestinian capital;
   
2. The reactivation of the absentee property law to serve the interests of the occupation authorities;
   
3. The reactivation of the Planning and reconstruction law number 512/5 for the year 1965 for the benefit of the occupation;
   
4. The commencement of land registration â?? tabooing - in the names  of Israeli colonists living in the old city or in the colonies of Bisgat Ze'ev and Har Homa which, once again, proves the real Israeli intensions of Judaizing the  whole city.

• First: 120 housing units were destroyed with a total surface area of 13457 square meters and a total of 424 rooms. As a result, 481 Palestinians, including 249 children under the age of 18 were made homeless.
  
• Second: Dozens of other structures such as commercial stores, cisterns, retaining walls, farms â?¦etc were also destroyed.
  
• Third: Millions of New Israeli Shekels were imposed as fines on Palestinian citizens of Jerusalem under the pretexts of violating building and construction laws.

• The house of Mr. Ahmad Mohammad Al Qadi located in Habs ar Ribat inside the Old City with a total area of 44 M². The owner of the house found no alternative but to demolish the house himself on 25.1.2005, as he was threatened by the Municipality with a NIS 27,500 fine in addition to a three-month jail sentence.
  
• Six Palestinian houses were demolished in Al Walajah village which was annexed into the boundaries of Occupied Jerusalem without giving the residents of the village any residency privileges. The demolished houses were located in Al Juweiza neighborhood of the village and they were owned by Saleh Wahdana Al Barguth, Salim Ali Abu Riziq, Fatimah Shehada Khalifa, Sameer Jubran Wahdana, Fakhri Abdullah Khalifa, Imad Hasan Abu Teen. In the mean while, five more animal barns used for raising sheep were also demolished in the same area.
  
• The house of Mr. Imam Mohammad ash Shuweiki in Al Ashqariya neighborhood, Shuâ??fat. The house (Area = 150 m²) was demolished on February 14^th, 2005. It used to house 7 individuals, including 5 children. Previously, the Jerusalem Municipality ordered Mr. Shweikhi to demolish the house himself, otherwise it would carryout the demolition and fine him the demolition charges. Therefore, he was obliged to demolish his house with his own hands on 5.6.2003 under the pretext of un-licensing. See photo 2:

Photo 2: Shu'fat- Al Ashqariya quarter- Jerusalem: the ruins of the house of Mr. Imam ash
Shuweiki after demolition under the pretext of un- licensing. 
Photo courtesy of LRC

• A six-story building owned by Mr. Isam Mustafa Harhash in Ashayyah Neighborhood in the village of At-Tor ( Mt. Olives). The building (area = 1400 m²) consisted of 10 housing units in addition to 6 stores. According to Mr. Harhash, he wanted to turn the building into a house for the elderly, a service which the city is severely lacking. The building was destroyed on February 22^nd. See Photo 3 

Photo 3: Mt. Olives (Attur quarter) - Jerusalem: Israeli destructive machinery polling down
the  building of Mr. Isam Harhash under the pretext of un- licensing.

Photo courtesy of LRC

• The building of Mr. Muhammad Jameel Salameh Al Atrash in Mintar Neighborhood at Sur Baher. The building which was destroyed on 23.2.05 consisted of 3 housing units with a total surface area of 180 m². Note here that this building is one of seventy three other buildings threatened to be demolished by the Jerusalem Municipality under the pretext of building without a permit.
  
• Mr. Faâ??iq Nasif Habash, a resident of the Old Cityâ??s Islamic Higher Council Street, was forced to add a 14-m² room to his house in which 8 individuals (including 4 children) live. The Municipality's Court ruled in 1996 to demolish the addition as well as to fine Habash NIS 3,000. In February 2004, the Court fined him an additional NIS 10,000 and ordered him to demolish the additional room within a year otherwise he would face a three-month jail sentence. On February 28^th, 2005, Habash demolished his own building himself.
  
• The building of Mr. Mohammed Ahmad Ja'abis from Asala'a â??Jabel Al Mikaber, was destroyed on December 12, 2005, under the pretext of un-licensing. The building had a total surface area of 640 M² and comprised of three flats and tow c9ommercila stores. It belonged to four handicapped brothers and their 15 family members, including 5 children. During the demolition process one of the four handicapped brothers became under physical attack at the hands of the Israeli soldiers.
  
• Demolishing two adjacent houses in Ashqariya quarter, Beit Hanina: the first is owned by Mr. Mazen AbdulAzim Abu Subeih (110 M²) and, the second is owned by Mr. Mohammed Bader Ash Shuweiki (120 M²). The two houses have been inhabited since 15 months at the end of which the occupants found themselves homeless in streets, including a 17 day old baby. Most of the furniture was destroyed or scattered in the vicinity of the demolished houses.
  
• Damaging a mobile house (caravan) inhabited by the family of Ayman Ahmad Al Batsh in Tel Aful area in Beit Hanina. The Caravan is 40 M² and was inhabited by a four family members including two children. The owner was obliged to buy the caravan and move to this area after the demolition of his house in the village of Bir Nabala  in 2004 under the pretext of un-licensing.

1. Ramadan Bader and Suleiman Taim from Al Sharqiya neighborhood in Beit Hanina.
   
2. Noor ad Dimairy from Tal Al Fool neighborhood in the eastern part of Beit Hanina. His house was previously demolished in 2003.
3. Kameel Al Saâ??ou whose demolition order against his house has lost validity because of the expiry of demolition order.
   
4. Adnan ash Shuweiki who rented the house out to the families of Yousef Zeghayer and Abdulla Muhtaseb. On the day of the attempted demolition Municipality employees, accompanied by the Israeli Police and the Border Police, evicted the two families and threw all of their belongings and furniture into the streets. Yet, the owner managed to get a temporary halt of the demolishing after paying a fine of NIS 8,000. Such a fine is reimbursable if the demolishing order is revoked. Otherwise, Shuweiki stands to both lose the fine and the two houses. See Photo 4

Photo 4: Shu'fat- Al Ashqariya quarter- Jerusalem: Furniture belonging to
the families of Zeghayer& Muhtaseb thrown out of the two houses. 
 Photo courtesy of LRC .

 

See Map 1: an aerial photo for Al Bustan quarter- Silwan

 

• Creating a suitable environment to attack andor destroy the Al Haram Al Sharif as a prelude to the establishment of the Third Temple.
  
• Reducing to a minimum the Palestinian presence in the above-mentioned locations which are considered to be the cityâ??s western gate.
  
• This plan is considered to be the largest Palestinian population transfer in Jerusalem since the occupation of the city in 1967.
  
• Tricking the Palestinian population of Al Bustan as Israeli authorities gave out demolition orders for 30 â?? 40 houses while promising its inhabitants to find â??alternative governmental landsâ?? as a substitute for their lands. Despite this fact, the Municipality has clearly stated that it will demolish the houses even if an alternative housing was not found.
  
• The intention of demolishing old houses though Israeli law protects it. The Municipality is using Article 212/5 of the 1965 Building Code to facilitate the demolition as this article was used in the demolition of ten ancient houses in Al Bustan Neighborhood in the past ten months. See Photo 5.

Photo 5: a digital photo showing the targeted houses of Silwan
Photo courtesy of LRC

Map 2: location of Burj Al Laqlaq

Israeli plans

Photo 7: An Israeli large crane taking part in the excavation
campaign in Burj Al Laqlaq - Photo courtesy of LRC.

 

• Land usage.
• The increasing gap between the natural growth of the population and the amount of land available for them to be used for population expansion.
• The private and Green areas. 
• The obstacles placed on house development.

 

Year	House demolition	Barrack & store demolition	Tent demolition	House closure	House seizure	Eviction under the pretext of being old	Total	No. of affected people
								Fam. mem	Child.
1997	27	56	58	--	4	0	145	NA	NA
1998	31	--	--	1	1	0	33	NA	NA
1999	39	--	17	3	5	0	64	NA	NA
2000	33	1	45	3	1	0	83	200	120
2001	78	9	--	2	1	0	90	500	270
2002	78	12	--	10	--	0	98	509	273
2003	147	10	0	1	9	11	178	996	553
2004	175	50	0	1	34	0	260	631	350
2005	120	25	0	0	0	0	145	481	249
Total	728	163	120	21	55	11	1096	3317	1815