Palestinian Forced To Demolish His Home In Jerusalem

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http://www.imemc.org/article/66480

[Saturday, November 30, 2013] Adel Ameera, a Palestinian man from occupied East Jerusalem, was forced to demolish his own home in Sur Baher, south of the city, after an Israeli court deemed his home “illegal”.

IMEMC Image - Radio Bethlehem 2000

Ameera told Radio Bethlehem 2000 that the city's district court had previously ordered him to demolish his home by December 1st, 2013.

He built the two-story structure a year ago, so that he and his family could live on one floor, and his son on another. Ameera stated that the land where his home is built is owned by the family, and was classified by Israel as area C, where Palestinians are not allowed to build, so that Tel Aviv can build and expand its illegitimate settlements.

He further stated that he received official notification from the Jerusalem City Council informing him that, should he fail to demolish his building, the city would demolish it and force him to pay at least 200,000 New Israeli Shekels in fines.

Ameera told reporters that his family does not have financial resources, and voiced an appeal to human rights groups to help his family, who was rendered homeless by Israel’s illegitimate policies.

The Israeli Committee Against Home Demolitions (ICAHD) has reported that, following the six-day war in June, 1967, Israel started practicing a range of policies leading to the displacement of more than 160,000 Palestinians in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

The year 2011 witnessed the largest number of home demolitions as Israeli soldiers demolished nearly 622 structures, leaving at least 222 families (roughly 1094 Palestinians) homeless.

AREA C: Israeli forces on Monday demolished four houses and eight agricultural structures in the southern Jordan Valley, leaving at least 50 Palestinians homeless

File photo of a Palestinian home in the Negev demolished by Israel.
(MaanImages/file)

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http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=653294

Jordan Valley demolitions leave 50 Palestinians homeless
02/12/2013

NABLUS (Ma'an) -- Israeli forces on Monday demolished four houses and eight agricultural structures in the southern Jordan Valley, leaving at least 50 Palestinians homeless, a local official said.

Fathi Shqaier, head of a campaign to support communities in the Jordan Valley, told Ma'an that Israeli forces demolished the properties in al-Auja village.

The residential and agricultural structures were built on land belonging to the Islamic endowment, or waqf, he added.

Local resident Imad Najada said that three bulldozers accompanied by at least 15 Israeli military vehicles arrived in the village and demolished the properties early Monday.

Over 50 people have been left homeless by the demolitions, locals said.

The properties belonged to Musallem Kaabna, Rafe Salama Jihadin, Ahmad Salama Jihadin, Yousef Musallem Kaabna, Ali Musallem Kaabna, Yousef Jihadin, Ahmad Mohammad Najada, Oda Mohammad Najada, Mousa Najada, Omran Mousa Najada, and Omar Mousa Najada.

Najada added that some residents filed an appeal in Israeli courts and have official documents proving that the land belongs to the Islamic endowment.

An Israeli army spokeswoman did not return calls seeking comment.

The Jordan Valley forms roughly a third of the occupied West Bank, with 94 percent of the area off limits to Palestinian use and development.

Israel has declared around 56 percent of the total area to be part of closed military areas.

In 2012, 540 Palestinian structures were demolished in Area C due to a lack of Israeli-issued permits, displacing 815 people, over half children, the UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says.

The internationally recognized Palestinian territories of which the West Bank and East Jerusalem form a part have been occupied by the Israeli military since 1967.

Aid agencies tread gingerly in Area C... Palestinian communities here, among the poorest and most vulnerable in oPt, desperately need access to water, electricity, sanitation and other basic infrastructure.

A farmer pictured on his land near Yatta.(MaanImages/file)

http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=555337
RAMALLAH/AL-JIFTLIK (IRIN) -- As night descends in the Jordan Valley in the occupied Palestinian territory, a family in the village of Ras Al-Ahmar lights a small paraffin lamp in the tent they call home.

There is no electricity here and the nearby Palestinian villages are enveloped in darkness. The only visible cluster of light is from a nearby Israeli settlement.

Humanitarian agencies are well aware of the needs in this part of the West Bank but they face a challenge: play by the rules established by Israel or face the risk of having projects demolished.

Despite being outside the state of Israel, 90 percent of the Jordan Valley is under full Israeli civil and military control as part of Area C, a zone that covers 60 percent of the West Bank.

Palestinian communities here, among the poorest and most vulnerable in oPt, desperately need access to water, electricity, sanitation and other basic infrastructure.

But despite the needs, development organizations that try to improve living conditions in Area C say they find their ability to make any lasting impact hampered by Israeli restrictions and bureaucracy.

Like Palestinians, organizations that want to build basic service infrastructure such as houses, schools or water systems are required to submit an application for a permit to the Israeli authorities.

Often, these permits are not granted. According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, between January 2000 and September 2007, over 94 percent of applications submitted by Palestinians to the Israeli authorities for building permits in Area C were denied.

"The permit regime is very confusing. There is no clarity about the status of an application, whether paperwork has been received, if it is complete," Willow Heske, media lead for Oxfam in oPt, told IRIN. "Agencies have sometimes waited for two years only to get a rejection that comes without any explanation."

"A few years ago we put in plans to build a water reservoir in Al-Jiftlik, to provide half of Al-Jiftlik with running water," said Heske.

"The reservoir was considered a `building' and we didn't get the permit. So we moved to a plan B which still involved setting up a reservoir and piping system but above rather than below ground. This too was not accepted. So as a last resort we had to go back to distributing water tanks. And of course people were frustrated and disappointed."

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