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A general view shows a section of Israel's controversial separation
barrier in the West Bank village of Al-Ram on the outskirts of
Jerusalem on December 7, 2012.(AFP/File Ahmad Gharabli) |
Thousands face uncertainty over Jerusalem demolition threat
by Charlie Hoyle
Published yesterday (updated) 06/11/2013
BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- Palestinians northeast of the separation wall near
Jerusalem face an uncertain future after Israeli authorities issued
demolition orders last week which could displace thousands of people, a
rights group said Wednesday.
A local Palestinian official said
last Thursday that officers from Jerusalem's municipality issued
demolition orders for Palestinian homes in the neighborhoods of Ras
Khamis and Ras Shahada.
Jamil Sanduqa, who chairs a local
committee to develop the Ras Khamis neighborhood, said that over 15,000
Palestinians live in the buildings slated for demolition.
Ronit
Sela, East Jerusalem project director from the Association for Civil
Rights in Israel, told Ma'an Wednesday that representatives from
Jerusalem's municipality had toured Ras Khamis in July and noted the
coordinates for properties they claimed were built without permits.
The
officials could not determine who lived in the properties and
approached a local court to ask for permission to demolish the homes.
The
Jerusalem Local Affairs Court stated that homeowners would have 30 days
to file an appeal from the date the orders were finally issued on Oct.
31, or the court would accept the municipality's request to demolish the
buildings.
Residents must now decide whether to remain anonymous
or challenge the orders in an Israeli court, Sela says, which still
risks the possibility that Israeli authorities could issue heavy fines
or demolish the homes.
"The displacement of so many families is
devastating. We are surprised that it is of this magnitude," Sela said,
adding that residents were confused and anxious about how to proceed.
Jerusalem's
municipality has said that 11 buildings are officially slated for
demolition, but Sela says the number of people facing displacement could
be in the "thousands."
Ras Khamis official Jamil Sanduqa said
last week that the demolitions orders were issued a week after Nir
Barkat was re-elected as Jerusalem's mayor.
An NGO worker also
told Ma'an that the demolition orders may have faced a three-month delay
from the municipality's initial request in July to wait until Jerusalem
municipal elections had taken place in late October.
'No man's land'In
2006, the construction of Israel's separation wall in northeast
Jerusalem separated the Ras Khamis and Ras Shahada neighborhoods from
the rest of the city.
Tens of thousands of residents, who carry
Israeli identification cards, must cross through a single checkpoint
serving Shufat refugee camp, Ras Khamis, Ras Shuhada and the town of
Anata to access the city.
Sela says residents in Ras Khamis and
Ras Shuhada constructed large residential buildings in the area as they
assumed Israeli authorities had no interest in entering the
neighborhoods.
"They are all in an area on the West Bank side of
the Jerusalem barrier and the assumption was that with such a complete
neglect of this area since the wall was built that Israeli authorities
would not touch you."
Israeli police almost never enter the area
and Sela says the neighborhoods have become "lawless," have problems
with drugs, and are effectively a "no man's land."
Sari Kronish,
an architect from Bimkom – Planners for Planning Rights, said in a
statement Tuesday that residents of Ras Khamis and Ras Shahada "are
trapped in a planning deadlock – on one hand, the lack of suitable
planning is one of the major reasons why building permits are refused,
and on the other hand, people live under the constant threat of home
demolitions and constant neglect."
In response to a petition to
Israel's High Court against the route of the barrier, Israel promised
that normal life would be maintained in Palestinian communities living
beyond the separation wall, ACRI says.
Yet Sela says that Israeli authorities have done nothing for the residents of the area.
"Roads
are in terrible shape, sewage and garbage collection is neglected, and
water connections are terrible. There is severe neglect of tens of
thousands of people."
Israel has destroyed more than 500
Palestinian properties in the West Bank and mostly East Jerusalem since
the beginning of this year, displacing 862 people, according to UNOCHA.
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