Sabbah Report » House-Demolition

Video: Israel demolish Al-Alami house

Haitham Sabbah — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 12:00:46 +0000

By Hiba al-'Almi, a student

My family's dream was to buy our own house. In 2002, my father bought an apartment from Mr. Majed Abu 'Isha, who had built an apartment house. My father paid $200,000 for it, investing all his savings. The contractor showed him the building permit he had received.

In 2005, we received the apartment from Mr. Majed. My father completed the interior work and furnished it gradually. We did without a lot of things to save money to buy the furniture.

On 12 June 2006, we moved in. The next day, policemen and Jerusalem Municipality officials came and handed us a demolition order. When my father received the order, he went to Mr. Majed and asked him about it. He replied that he had deviated slightly from the building permit. Later, we learned that he had deviated a lot.

On 18 October 2006, the final order was posted on the wall of the building, and we began to remove our furniture. My father retained the lawyer Mu'in Khoury, who managed to postpone the demolition a few times. In November 2006, we returned the furniture and moved back in. The legal proceedings continued, and we knew our problem had not been resolved. My father had to borrow money to pay the lawyer.

In July 2008, teams of inspectors and Border Police forces came to the house a few times. The inspectors took pictures of the building without telling us why.

Last Sunday [27 July], around 11:30 A.M., my parents were abroad and I was home alone. The bell rang and when I opened the door, I saw three Jerusalem Municipality inspectors and a Border Police officer with high-rank insignias on his shoulder. The officer said he was a senior official in the army. They came into the house and went from room to room. I didn't think it important because this wasn't the first time that municipal officials and police had come to the house.

That evening, I went to spend the night at my aunt's house, which is situated next to ours, because I didn't want to sleep at home alone.

Around 1 A.M., a neighbor called and told me the municipality and the police might come at night to the building, and that I should be at home. Around 2, I returned home, with my aunt. We waited and couldn't sleep. We heard the neighbors moving about on the stairs.

Around 3:30 A.M., I heard the sound of stun grenades exploding. After that, there was banging on the door. My aunt and I went to open it. When I opened the door, a few policemen burst in with black masks on their faces. They had five huge dogs with them. They ordered us to leave the building immediately. I told one of them that I wanted to get dressed because I was in pajamas. He said he would go into the room with me and I shouted at him and didn't agree. He swore at me. Then the policemen hit me in the back and slapped me. One of the dogs came over to my leg and almost attacked me. Out of fear, I kicked it. Because I kicked the dog, the policemen hit me again, and one of them grabbed me by the hair and threw me to the floor. One of the policemen stepped on my back and the others kicked me and continued to swear at me.

This lasted for a few minutes. Then one of the policemen grabbed me by the shoulder and lifted me up. He pushed me out of the apartment and down the stairs. There were lots of policemen in the stairway, and they hit and punched me. While they were removing me, I begged them to let me go back to the house so I could at least take my passport and jewelry, which was worth more than $50,000. I had diamonds and there was also lots of money in the apartment, about $50,000 that my father was holding for some people. In my study there was my final project that I was working on for school, and I had things for school I wanted to take off the computer.

A few minutes later, I found myself outside the building, on the main road. I tried to go back to the apartment a few times, but the policemen didn't let me. When I insisted that I take personal things of mine from the apartment, they said everything would be brought out with the furniture.

Around 11:30 A.M., my father returned from Cairo, He didn't look good. The area around the building was still closed, and they didn't let us enter.

Around 6:30 P.M., I heard a loud explosion. I was about 150 meters from the building. The whole building collapsed, and my life was buried with it. All my mementos and pictures of the family were buried in the ruins. I cried and felt that we had been uprooted, and had nothing. Since then, we have been living with my aunt.

After we recovered a bit, we asked the lawyer to check where our things were. He sent us to Kfar Saba [not far from Tel Aviv]. When we got there, we found that about twenty percent of our clothes and property were missing, including about $40,000. My jewelry box was empty.
I found the case for my laptop, but the computer wasn't there. I got some sacks with my clothes in them, but the expensive clothes weren't there. We also lost all the furniture that was in the house.

We now live in a rented house again.

Hiba Khalil Ahmad al-'Almi, 26, is a student and a resident of Beit Hanina in East Jerusalem. Her testimony was given to Kareem Jubran on 3 August 2008 at the witness's home.

DEMOLITION IN ISRAEL

Haitham Sabbah — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 09:07:24 +0000

18,000 Homes destroyed by Israel since 1967. These are figures for Palestinian homes. If approximately 120,000 Druze and Arabs were expelled from the Syria Golan Heights in 1967 and their villages (134 in number) were completely demolished, that makes about 20,000 additional demolished homes, assuming six people per family unit. (ICAHD)

Part 2, Part 3, Part 4 and Part 5.

Extensive houses demolition and humiliation of Palestinians

Haitham Sabbah — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 19:46:43 +0000

Via: B'TSELEM - The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories

Qalqiliya, 29 August 2007: Extensive destruction of houses and gross humiliation of residents

Around four o'clock in the morning of 29 August 2007, a large contingent of soldiers, accompanied by bulldozers, entered the Naqar neighborhood of Qalqiliya. According to the media, the soldiers had come to arrest members of Hamas's military wing whom Israeli intelligence indicated were in the area. The forces encircled one of the sections of the neighborhood and around seven o'clock began to call to the occupants to leave their homes. Some of the soldiers took control of two houses, removed their occupants. Later, these residences were used to detain and question residents.

As soon as the occupants left their homes, the soldiers forced the men to undress to their underpants in public, in front of the women and children. Some of the men told B'Tselem that they were compelled, for inspection purposes, to remove their underpants as well, this too in front of everyone. Two residents who refused to undress told B'Tselem that the soldiers beat them severely. Male soldiers, using metal detectors, also checked the women.

In his testimony to B'Tselem, Muhammad Di'ab, 57, who has eight children, described his humiliation:

During the evacuation, one of the soldiers in the jeep called out on to me on a loudspeaker to take off all my clothes and turn around in front of the soldiers to make sure that I wasn't carrying anything... I asked the soldiers to let me keep my underpants on, but they insisted. I had to lower my underpants in front of my daughters and women from the neighborhood. I felt deeply insulted and it offended my dignity. What they did was beastly, arbitrary, and immoral. It was also disgraceful, this by soldiers who claim they maintain law and order and are humane. After I lowered my underpants, the soldiers allowed my son and I to put them back on.

The soldiers led the occupants to the houses they had taken control of, where they were questioned by the Israel Security Agency. The houses were about 50-70 meters away, a distance that the men walked dressed only in their underpants. Testimonies given to B'Tselem indicate that some of the mail residents were not allowed to dress until the troops left the city that evening, and were interrogated while in their underclothes. When the army's action ended, all the occupants were released.

After the soldiers removed the occupants from their homes, the soldiers continued to call out to everyone to come outside, assuming that the wanted persons were still hiding in the houses. When nobody else came out, the bulldozers began to demolish the houses in the encircled section of the neighborhood. Within a few hours, the bulldozer demolished seven housing units, which were home to forty-eight persons, seventeen children among them. Five housing units (a two-story building and three houses) were completely demolished, and two other houses were partially demolished, making them uninhabitable. None of the occupants were allowed to remove anything from the houses before they were demolished.

Hana'a Qab'a, 42, a mother of six, described the event to B'Tselem:

I saw the bulldozers demolish my house in front of my eyes. It was very painful. All my dreams died in that one moment. My whole house was demolished: three rooms, kitchen, bathroom, living room, and all the contents. I fainted. My sister-in-law called for help. When I opened my eyes, I saw three male soldiers and one female soldier standing around me. The female soldier checked my pulse and asked me to breathe. I asked that I be taken to hospital for medical treatment, but they didn't let me.

It was later learned that the soldiers had faulty information: nobody was found in the houses that were demolished.

During the demolitions, a few young men threw stones and petrol bombs at the soldiers, who then opened fire with "rubber" bullets and tear gas, wounding about thirty young men. The troops left the city at seven in the evening.

Legal analysis

During the action in Qalqiliya, the soldiers flagrantly breached a fundamental principal of international humanitarian law, enshrined in Article 27 of the Fourth Geneva Convention:

Protected persons [the local civilian population in occupied territory] are entitled, in all circumstances, to respect for their persons, their honor, their family rights, their religious convictions and practices, and their manners and customs. They shall at all times be humanely treated, and shall be protected especially against all acts of violence or threats thereof and against insults and public curiosity.

Even if undressing the males was done as part of an inspection and resulted from legitimate security considerations, primarily the concern that the men had weapons on their bodies, the obligation to respect the honor of the protected persons required the soldiers to conduct the examination in as modest a way as possible under the circumstances, and certainly not in front of a large group of people. Furthermore, no legitimate security consideration can justify keeping the men in their underpants after the check for weapons had been completed, especially during the walk along the street and during the ISA interrogation.

The laws of occupation under international humanitarian law also protect the local population's property. The relevant provision, Article 53 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which prohibits the occupier to destroy property in occupied territory, makes an exception "where such destruction is rendered absolutely necessary by military operations." The wording of the exception and the interpretation given it over the years indicate that the exception is very narrow and that destruction of property is hard to justify: the destruction must do more than contribute to the success of a military operation, it must be "absolutely necessary" in terms of the military operation.

As the official commentary of the International Committee of the Red Cross points out regarding this article, the occupier, in relying on this exception, must "try to interpret the clause in a reasonable manner in comparing the military advantages to be gained with the damage done." This obligation also applies under other provisions of international humanitarian law and under Israeli administrative law.

Even if the action in Qalqiliya amounts to a "military operation," within the meaning of this term in Article 53, in this case there is reason to believe that the destruction was not "absolutely necessary." There is concern about a number of points: a. whether the intelligence that wanted persons were hiding in the houses that were evacuated was sufficiently certain to warrant such an extreme action; b. whether reasonable, less harmful alternative means were considered to force the wanted persons, who were believed to be inside, to surrender; c. whether the huge damage to the residents' property clearly exceeded the anticipated gain from arresting the wanted persons.

In any event, the occupier has the burden of proving that the destruction was indeed "absolutely necessary." The military authorities have not related to the action at all. Furthermore, the army's Website, which updates its readers on almost every security matter taking place in the Occupied Territories , makes no mention of any action in Qalqiliya on the 29 th of August.

B'Tselem wrote to the Judge Advocate General, demanding that he order a Military Police investigation into the incident, particular in respect of the severe humiliation of the occupants who were removed from their homes, some of whom were beaten, and regarding the destruction of private property in breach of international humanitarian law. In its letter, B'Tselem also demanded that the Judge Advocate General order that the residents, who were not guilty of any wrongdoing, be compensated for their losses.

American Jew finances anti-demolition campaign

Haitham Sabbah — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 12:50:20 +0000

An Orthodox American Jew has donated $1.5 million to fund a campaign against the demolition of Palestinian and Beduin homes throughout Israel and the territories, the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions announced on Monday. Related posts: US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation US Campaign advertisements in Washington metro is drawing Zionist ire Did you [...] Related posts:

Palestinian handicapped children forcefully homeless by Israel

Haitham Sabbah — Thu, 10 May 2007 06:22:21 +0000

Where on earth would you expect to see a military forces going out at 5:30 AM to throw out 'handicapped children' to the cold streets after snatching the kids out of their beds?

ISRAEL, no where else!

Believe it or not, the Israeli forces went out to demolish a centre for disabled children in east Jerusalem before the dawn on Tuesday. The Israeli forces claim that the centre had no license.

According to Ma'an news agency:

Our Jerusalem correspondent reported that the Israeli military forced the disabled children to evacuate the building and then began demolishing it.

The 70 mÂ² building, which is owned by Palestinian Jerusalemite Hani Tatah, houses more than 20 disabled children.

Haaretz Correspondent said:

The Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD) said seven children and two caregivers were asleep at 5:30 A.M. when police and Border Police arrived and instructed the caregivers to evacuate the children. According to ICAHD, the police refused to call the center's director to contact the parents and to evacuate the children, but started to do so themselves. After two children were removed by police, the director and the caregivers removed the rest, out of concern that the children would be harmed.

The Jerusalem police said they did not remove any children from the building. "Moreover, at the request of the people at the site, we allowed them to conduct their prayers undisturbed although we knew that the moment we delayed the demolition, we were taking a chance that disorderly conduct would occur."

'Disorderly conduct'... yeah... by the 'disabled children'!? Oh wait, they are Palestinians, so even if they are disabled, they are dangerous to the security of Israel.

Or maybe not... They are not dangerous, but some Jewish colonizers (a.k.a. settlers) 'liked' that spot of land and wants to build a small colony there. So, who cares about disabled children? And who cares if it is 5:30 AM or even 1:00 AM? And who cares if they are thrown into the streets? It's enough "sin" to be a Palestinian to have it all and worse.

IOF demolishes Palestinian homes, South Hebron Hills

Haitham Sabbah — Wed, 25 Apr 2007 18:59:05 +0000

Israeli Occupation Forces demolish Palestinian homes in the South Hebron Hills, West Bank. Palestinian, Israeli, and international solidarity activists aid in the attempt to halt the illegal demolitions.

What Ezra, in the green jacket says, towards the end of the video:

(to the arresting soldier) Don't hit me... Why are you tying it so hard? (to the cameraman) Bring me some water from the car... (to the soldiers) I hear you're from Russia, save your Russian passports, you're going to need them... Never mind, the last thing that's going to be left here is hatred, the only thing that's going to be left here is hatred... It's very funny, huh soldier, when you hear that these children are going to sleep outside (simultaneous - under the dome of the sky), it's very funny, huh? [Source: ISM]

Israeli Truce Means: More Houses & Agricultural Structures Demolished!

Haitham Sabbah — Wed, 06 Dec 2006 08:19:03 +0000

This is some of what Israel and the mainstream media don't want you to see:

House Demolitions in the West Bank
by Jane Smith - 12/4/06 [Source: Thomas Paine's Corner]

As we arrived in the village of Al Funduq, central West bank, the aftermath of the first house demolition was evident. A family stood on a pile of rubble silenced and shocked. The second house demolition was just beginning, with the Caterpillar and Volvo bulldozers ripping into the top floor of the nearly completed house. As we approached four Palestinian men ran forward from behind the line of soldiers and entered their house. I was deeply moved by their courage. The soldiers grabbed the men out of the house, holding one in a tight neck lock, and handcuffed two of them throughout the demolition. Within an hour the future home was nothing but a pile of rubble. The family was powerless in this situation, and could only watch as years of labour and money was obliterated by the Israeli army. Caterpillar and Volvo are profiting from this family's grief.

The bulldozers turned around and headed off in the direction of the village. By this time we were joined by five more internationals. We walked ahead so as to be able to get to the site of the third demolition before the bulldozers arrived. Not surprisingly the Israeli army was already surrounding the building. It was a big agricultural structure, where livestock lived. Money had clearly been invested and no doubt many mouths were dependent on the income. One end of the building was already under demolition as I helped the family salvage a few things.

Without pause the bulldozers and army headed off to the site of the fourth demolition, in the nearby village of Hajja. This family had fire. They wanted to resist. They were stood at the top of the hill, angry and shouting at the Israeli army. They were frantically waving and hollering for neighbours to join them in their resistance. We ran over the field and up the rocky, thorny hill to join them in their struggle to preserve their livelihood. As people were approaching the army started throwing sound bombs. This did not deter us, and we joined the family up against the wall and gate of their huge agricultural structure. The family had papers with their lawyer, which they hoped would prevent the demolition. No wonder they had fire. They had a slither of a chance of preventing this crime. It was only ever a slither. They needed time. And time is exactly what is not available living under military Occupation. The family was frantically calling their lawyer. We were frantically calling everyone and anyone who may be able to buy some time. There was a sense of inevitability about the demolition, soldiers had already entered the compound, and the family members inside the walls and gate were "allowed" to move some of the animals. Let it not be said the Israeli army is inhumane. Though much like the hierarchy of human beings in this part of the world, some are "worth" saving, some are not.

The predictable happened. The army would not wait for the papers and the demolition started. It took two hours to rip this multi-storied building apart.

During the demolition a group of around 10 soldiers took off across the field in which I was stood. They threw a sound bomb and fired at least one rubber bullet into a small group of boys aged around 12 who were passing by. The boys were in no way threatening. I am sure more bullets would have been fired if this white skin had not been watching. Throughout the day I lost count of the number of times I shouted "Stop. Do not shoot".

The final house demolition was by far the worst. It was extremely traumatic for the family involved. The soldiers tried to prevent internationals passing, pointing their guns at us.
It was unclear which of the two houses the bulldozers were aiming for. Outside the first house there were several women, gathering up their young children, petrified. I thought of my sister. And my beautiful niece. We had our brief moment of opportunity and dived in the house with the women and children, locking ourselves in. It was then that we became aware of what was happening in the next house. A family up on the roof, hysterical in their grief. Four internationals stayed with the women, three of us dodged the soldiers and joined the family on the roof of their semi constructed house.

I will never forgot the agony of that family. As I emerged onto the roof I was met by a scene of utter chaos. I had no idea what was happening. One young man was lying motionless, with family members desperately trying to rouse him. Periodically he would writhe around screaming in agony. A second man dropped to the floor, writhing uncontrollably. We had to keep pulling him back from the edge of the open roof. I was pretty sure what I was witnessing was an extreme emotional reaction, but at the back of my mind were the stories I have personally heard of the Israeli army using unknown gases that have debilitated people for a week. I heard a bang and then a third man screaming and holding his leg. I thought he'd been shot. That was the first time I consciously felt my fear. Possibly a rubber bullet skimmed him, but fortunately he was not shot. An elderly woman collapsed. Everyone was wailing and screaming and crying out to Allah. The Divine arrived in the form of the medics. Palestinian medics are some of the saints of this world. Fortunately the army did not try to prevent them entering the building.

Things became marginally quieter and calmer for a brief moment. Then the 30 soldiers who were stood around the house massed together. It was clear they were going to act. What was not clear was what that action would be.

En masse they entered the house. They scrabbled up the concrete framework where the steps would have been built, in this yet unfinished house. They pushed past me and started grabbing and pushing the Palestinians down the rough steep concrete slope. Four people were still being treated by the medics. They picked these people off the ground and dragged them outside.
Once we were all outside the Israeli army started throwing sound bombs and firing rubber bullets. Sound bombs were exploding all around the ambulance and one man was shot with a rubber bullet a couple of meters from the ambulance.

A few people were beaten by the soldiers. They pushed people to the ground. They screamed with hatred into our faces, the saliva of their anger meeting my skin.

As the demolition was happening, the soldiers began firing rubber bullets into a group of predominantly women and children, stood outside their house, watching what was happening.

There were so many outrageous things that day. But this indiscriminate shooting is where I felt my anger boiling. One soldier had his gun aimed at the women. I shouted with as much power as I had left, but with complete clarity, to stop. He looked at me. We held each others eyes for what felt like an eternity. He did not shoot. I am utterly aware the only reason I can do this and for it to work is because of inherent and deep deep racism. Fortunately there are still situations where this international privilege is working.

Three people went to Qalqiliya hospital, seven to local clinics to be treated for rubber bullet injuries and shock.

A young man sobbed, tears racking his body as he sat on a pile of rubble that was his family's future.

The reason for any of this? A brutal, racist illegal Occupation.

If you want the reason according to the Israeli army, Palestinians dared to build on their own land, in their own village without the permission of Israel.

The virtual impossibility of getting building permits is another story all together.

Jane Smith is a member of the International Women's Peace Service (www.iwps-pal.org) in the West Bank, Palestine. IWPS is a solidarity group which documents as well as intervenes in human rights abuses. On 22nd November they were called to some house demolitions in the villages of Al Funduq & Hajja.

For photos of the demolition avaliable at: http://www.rainbow70.blogspot.com (here, here and here). More from http://www.iwps-pal.org

If you want to learn more about demolitions, permits etc go to:
www.btselem.org or www.icahd.org