14 feb 2014
An Israeli bulldozer on Friday unearthed a grave in the Hebron town of Beit Ummar, a local committee member said.
Mohammad Awad told Ma'an that an Israeli bulldozer dug up a grave located on the side of a main road, leaving the bones visible to passersby.
The incident took place after Israeli forces closed the Abu al-Tooq road leading to Beit Ummar with cement blocks, he added.
Mohammad Awad told Ma'an that an Israeli bulldozer dug up a grave located on the side of a main road, leaving the bones visible to passersby.
The incident took place after Israeli forces closed the Abu al-Tooq road leading to Beit Ummar with cement blocks, he added.
13 feb 2014
The Israeli Central Court of Jerusalem has ordered the demolition of steel structures used by the Palestinian al-Maslamani family as domiciles in the al-Tur neighborhood.
Omar al-Maslamani told Ma’an that the court rejected an appeal by the family and informed him and his father that they should demolish the structures in 60 days. Otherwise the municipality demolition teams will do the job and the family will have to pay the costs, he says.
Al-Maslamani highlighted that he and his father built two domiciles in 2013 using tin sheet and gypsum boards. The domiciles measure 100 square meters and house eight family members including two children and a disabled girl.
The Jerusalem municipality, he added, has been trying to confiscate the family’s tract of land measuring 1,000 square meters to use for a public road. The road’s plan was submitted to the Knesset in 2000 and it was not approved, added al-Maslamani.
Separately, demolition teams of the Jerusalem municipality handed demolition orders to Islam and Iman al-Abbasi in the Jabal al-Mukabbir neighborhood under the pretext that their houses were built without license.
Family members told Ma’an that the houses were built about three months ago on a tract of land the family owns. Each of the two houses measures 80 square meters and they house 12 family members.
Omar al-Maslamani told Ma’an that the court rejected an appeal by the family and informed him and his father that they should demolish the structures in 60 days. Otherwise the municipality demolition teams will do the job and the family will have to pay the costs, he says.
Al-Maslamani highlighted that he and his father built two domiciles in 2013 using tin sheet and gypsum boards. The domiciles measure 100 square meters and house eight family members including two children and a disabled girl.
The Jerusalem municipality, he added, has been trying to confiscate the family’s tract of land measuring 1,000 square meters to use for a public road. The road’s plan was submitted to the Knesset in 2000 and it was not approved, added al-Maslamani.
Separately, demolition teams of the Jerusalem municipality handed demolition orders to Islam and Iman al-Abbasi in the Jabal al-Mukabbir neighborhood under the pretext that their houses were built without license.
Family members told Ma’an that the houses were built about three months ago on a tract of land the family owns. Each of the two houses measures 80 square meters and they house 12 family members.
Activists organized a sit-in on Thursday in front of the European Union's office in Sheikh Jarrah in East Jerusalem in protest of the Israeli policy of house demolitions.
Participants handed a letter to the EU representative explaining the suffering caused by the demolitions, and emphasizing the EU's role in protecting Palestinians.
Protesters held signs reading "House demolition are against international law," "House demolitions are the ethnic cleansing of Jerusalemites," and "No to the house demolition policy," among others.
The sit-in was organized by the Jerusalem civil and national work organization, which called on Palestinians in Jerusalem to resist and stand against Israeli policies.
The protest comes amid a major increase in the frequency of demolitions since the beginning of the year, with at least 114 Palestinian properties destroyed and 217 people displaced in the West Bank and East Jerusalem in recent weeks, according to UNOCHA.
Israeli authorities say the demolitions occur because Palestinians fail to acquire the appropriate permits for construction, but rights groups counter that Israeli authorities rarely approve permit requests.
Israel has demolished at least 27,000 Palestinian homes and structures since occupying the West Bank in 1967, according to the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions.
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.
Participants handed a letter to the EU representative explaining the suffering caused by the demolitions, and emphasizing the EU's role in protecting Palestinians.
Protesters held signs reading "House demolition are against international law," "House demolitions are the ethnic cleansing of Jerusalemites," and "No to the house demolition policy," among others.
The sit-in was organized by the Jerusalem civil and national work organization, which called on Palestinians in Jerusalem to resist and stand against Israeli policies.
The protest comes amid a major increase in the frequency of demolitions since the beginning of the year, with at least 114 Palestinian properties destroyed and 217 people displaced in the West Bank and East Jerusalem in recent weeks, according to UNOCHA.
Israeli authorities say the demolitions occur because Palestinians fail to acquire the appropriate permits for construction, but rights groups counter that Israeli authorities rarely approve permit requests.
Israel has demolished at least 27,000 Palestinian homes and structures since occupying the West Bank in 1967, according to the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions.
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.
12 feb 2014
The Israeli forces handed Wednesday demolition notices for Palestinian-owned house and two sheds in Barta'a Ash Sharqiya, a village to the south of Jenin, local sources said.
Forces stormed an area in the village and handed two residents demolition notices for a house and two sheds, used as animal barns, under the pretext of unlicensed building.
Forces stormed an area in the village and handed two residents demolition notices for a house and two sheds, used as animal barns, under the pretext of unlicensed building.
Israeli forces, on Wednesday, demolished tents set up by Palestinian residents in the Jordan Valley after their village was completely destroyed by Israel in January, according to an Israeli rights group.
(Ma'an) -- "A Civil Administration bulldozer arrived, once more, at Khirbet Ein Karzaliyah in the central Jordan Valley, this morning.
It began demolishing the tents put up by the residents since the latest demolition of 13 January, 2014", B'Tselem said in a statement.
"A soldier escort to the bulldozer slashed the tent fabric so that the tents could not be re-erected."
The bulldozer did not manage to destroy all of the tents, as some were located on a hillside. Israeli Civil Administration officials informed residents that they would soon return with a larger bulldozer to complete the demolitions.
On Jan. 8, Israeli authorities destroyed the entire village of Khirbet Ein Karzaliyah, leaving 25 people homeless, including 15 children.
(Ma'an) -- "A Civil Administration bulldozer arrived, once more, at Khirbet Ein Karzaliyah in the central Jordan Valley, this morning.
It began demolishing the tents put up by the residents since the latest demolition of 13 January, 2014", B'Tselem said in a statement.
"A soldier escort to the bulldozer slashed the tent fabric so that the tents could not be re-erected."
The bulldozer did not manage to destroy all of the tents, as some were located on a hillside. Israeli Civil Administration officials informed residents that they would soon return with a larger bulldozer to complete the demolitions.
On Jan. 8, Israeli authorities destroyed the entire village of Khirbet Ein Karzaliyah, leaving 25 people homeless, including 15 children.
Several Israeli settlement associations are planning to break into the village of Bab Shams on Thursday. Member of the Revolutionary Council of Fatah Dimitri Daliani said in a statement on Wednesday that "the occupation army, which has forcibly evacuated the village of its inhabitants early last year, will protect the Knesset members and the Jewish terror groups accompanying them during this incursion."
He warned that the success of the settlers in storming the village, which has been set up by Palestinian activists in the region E1, would be followed by the establishment of a new settlement that will cut the territorial contiguity between the north and the south of West Bank, which would change the demographic situation in Jerusalem.
Daliani also stressed that the participation of MKs in this incursion proves that "the occupation state rejects peace and stability in the region."
He warned that the success of the settlers in storming the village, which has been set up by Palestinian activists in the region E1, would be followed by the establishment of a new settlement that will cut the territorial contiguity between the north and the south of West Bank, which would change the demographic situation in Jerusalem.
Daliani also stressed that the participation of MKs in this incursion proves that "the occupation state rejects peace and stability in the region."
The Israeli forces demolished Wednesday a residential tent and shed in an area in the central area of the Jordan valley, east of Nablus city, witnesses said.
They said that forces demolished the tent and shed belonging to a Palestinian in the area for the third time over the last four months and threatened to confiscate two vehicles if they do not evacuate the area.
They said that forces demolished the tent and shed belonging to a Palestinian in the area for the third time over the last four months and threatened to confiscate two vehicles if they do not evacuate the area.
11 feb 2014
A general view of part of the Cremisan valley in Beit Jala.
By Ibrahim Shomali
Father Ibrahim Shomali is the Parish Priest of Beit Jala, Bethlehem District.
Since the beginning of our struggle for Cremisan, we have been determined to tell the world about the story of a small Palestinian community that, like many others, is threatened once again with dispossession and colonization.
Beit Jala had already lost two thirds of its lands to the Israeli settlements of Gilo and Har Gilo, leaving our town with only 4,500 dunams of land. Our land represents not only our heritage and our olives represent not only our presence: they represent our existence.
As Palestinians we have gone for painful stories. In Beit Jala, we saw the refugees flee in 1948, the settlements grow since 1967, and the oppression engendered by a military occupation that aims at annexing our land. We witnessed the historic compromise made by the PLO, recognizing Israel on 78 percent of historic Palestine, which we all believed would bring peace.
But Israel decided otherwise through its insatiable appetite for land. Since the PLO recognized Israel and accepted a two-state solution on the 1967 border, Israel has accelerated settlement construction and other elements of its colonial enterprise. Our town, due to its proximity to Jerusalem, was a natural target for Israeli settlements.
When Israel announced its plans to build the annexation wall, Palestine went to the International Court of Justice, and in 2004 obtained an unequivocal opinion: The construction of the wall in the occupied Palestinian territory, including in and around East Jerusalem, and its associated regime, violate international law. Nevertheless, Israel has continued to build the wall with impunity.
For the Bethlehem district, and Beit Jala particularly, the annexation wall meant, in the words of Bishop Desmond Tutu said, to be condemned by strangulation. We saw how Israel continued to usurp our land.
First, Israel severed our connection with Jerusalem for first time in Christianity's 2,000-year history. Second, Israel denied us access to our lands and natural resources, including our water. And now, Cremisan, the beautiful valley of our kindergarten, convent and winery, and the home of our yearly procession, will disappear behind this illegal wall.
The wall is being used to link the settlements of Gilo and Har Gilo, consolidating the Israeli annexation of our land.
As a parish priest, I could not remain indifferent to these destructive acts. Our duty as clergy is to provide hope and fight for love, justice and peace. Israeli settlements and their network of walls, fences, checkpoints and settler-only roads destroy any prospect for peace.
I could not let my community’s hope for their future be fully extinguished. And since the world was deaf and blind to our predicament, we decided to call upon God for help. We mobilized our community to pray every Friday on the land and amongst the olive trees that Israel aims to take.
We decided to pray with the olive trees, because they represent our history rooted in this land. These olive trees alone stood with Jesus Christ at the Gethsemane, according to our Holy Bible. They cried with him, and now we were crying with them.
Our prayers brought international attention. Suddenly, hundreds of communities around the world were praying for Cremisan. The Holy See rallied to our cause. The Government of Palestine lent us support, with President Abbas dedicating his Christmas message to our nonviolent campaign to keep our land. The Archbishop of Westminster, Cardinal Vincent Nicols, prayed for us during his Christmas homily.
Dozens of archbishops, bishops and priests from Italy, France, Spain, Brazil, Argentina, Andorra, Belgium, South Africa, Canada, the United States, Germany, Sweden, Norway, Portugal, Jordan and Egypt, joined our prayers at Cremisan. The World Council of Churches and numerous Catholic, Evangelical and Orthodox communities prayed in communion with the people of Beit Jala.
I myself delivered a letter to His Holiness Pope Francis, who also committed himself to our cause. The Catholic Church has remained united against the annexation wall, despite Israeli allegations to the contrary.
Paradoxically, the only place where Palestinians can attempt to defend their land from Israeli expansionism are the Israeli courts. Unable to bring our case in international courts, we depended on the ingenuity of our lawyers and the steadfastness of our people. Recognizing the justness of our cause, the Israeli Supreme Court delayed the case at least until July 30th.
We hope that the visit of His Holiness Pope Francis in May will highlight the struggle of the Palestinian people, Christians and Muslims, for justice and freedom. Then we will hope for another miracle: the definitive end of the Cremisan wall, the end to the nightmare of the occupation, with its illegal settlements, fences and walls.
By Ibrahim Shomali
Father Ibrahim Shomali is the Parish Priest of Beit Jala, Bethlehem District.
Since the beginning of our struggle for Cremisan, we have been determined to tell the world about the story of a small Palestinian community that, like many others, is threatened once again with dispossession and colonization.
Beit Jala had already lost two thirds of its lands to the Israeli settlements of Gilo and Har Gilo, leaving our town with only 4,500 dunams of land. Our land represents not only our heritage and our olives represent not only our presence: they represent our existence.
As Palestinians we have gone for painful stories. In Beit Jala, we saw the refugees flee in 1948, the settlements grow since 1967, and the oppression engendered by a military occupation that aims at annexing our land. We witnessed the historic compromise made by the PLO, recognizing Israel on 78 percent of historic Palestine, which we all believed would bring peace.
But Israel decided otherwise through its insatiable appetite for land. Since the PLO recognized Israel and accepted a two-state solution on the 1967 border, Israel has accelerated settlement construction and other elements of its colonial enterprise. Our town, due to its proximity to Jerusalem, was a natural target for Israeli settlements.
When Israel announced its plans to build the annexation wall, Palestine went to the International Court of Justice, and in 2004 obtained an unequivocal opinion: The construction of the wall in the occupied Palestinian territory, including in and around East Jerusalem, and its associated regime, violate international law. Nevertheless, Israel has continued to build the wall with impunity.
For the Bethlehem district, and Beit Jala particularly, the annexation wall meant, in the words of Bishop Desmond Tutu said, to be condemned by strangulation. We saw how Israel continued to usurp our land.
First, Israel severed our connection with Jerusalem for first time in Christianity's 2,000-year history. Second, Israel denied us access to our lands and natural resources, including our water. And now, Cremisan, the beautiful valley of our kindergarten, convent and winery, and the home of our yearly procession, will disappear behind this illegal wall.
The wall is being used to link the settlements of Gilo and Har Gilo, consolidating the Israeli annexation of our land.
As a parish priest, I could not remain indifferent to these destructive acts. Our duty as clergy is to provide hope and fight for love, justice and peace. Israeli settlements and their network of walls, fences, checkpoints and settler-only roads destroy any prospect for peace.
I could not let my community’s hope for their future be fully extinguished. And since the world was deaf and blind to our predicament, we decided to call upon God for help. We mobilized our community to pray every Friday on the land and amongst the olive trees that Israel aims to take.
We decided to pray with the olive trees, because they represent our history rooted in this land. These olive trees alone stood with Jesus Christ at the Gethsemane, according to our Holy Bible. They cried with him, and now we were crying with them.
Our prayers brought international attention. Suddenly, hundreds of communities around the world were praying for Cremisan. The Holy See rallied to our cause. The Government of Palestine lent us support, with President Abbas dedicating his Christmas message to our nonviolent campaign to keep our land. The Archbishop of Westminster, Cardinal Vincent Nicols, prayed for us during his Christmas homily.
Dozens of archbishops, bishops and priests from Italy, France, Spain, Brazil, Argentina, Andorra, Belgium, South Africa, Canada, the United States, Germany, Sweden, Norway, Portugal, Jordan and Egypt, joined our prayers at Cremisan. The World Council of Churches and numerous Catholic, Evangelical and Orthodox communities prayed in communion with the people of Beit Jala.
I myself delivered a letter to His Holiness Pope Francis, who also committed himself to our cause. The Catholic Church has remained united against the annexation wall, despite Israeli allegations to the contrary.
Paradoxically, the only place where Palestinians can attempt to defend their land from Israeli expansionism are the Israeli courts. Unable to bring our case in international courts, we depended on the ingenuity of our lawyers and the steadfastness of our people. Recognizing the justness of our cause, the Israeli Supreme Court delayed the case at least until July 30th.
We hope that the visit of His Holiness Pope Francis in May will highlight the struggle of the Palestinian people, Christians and Muslims, for justice and freedom. Then we will hope for another miracle: the definitive end of the Cremisan wall, the end to the nightmare of the occupation, with its illegal settlements, fences and walls.
10 feb 2014
The Israeli Ministry of Agriculture on Monday sent tractors to damage Palestinian crops planted east of Yatta in the south Hebron hills, local farmers said.
Five tractors damaged the land on the pretext that it was located within Israel's borders, farmers told Ma'an.
The fields had already been planted with grains and belonged to the Abu Iram, Jabarin, Hoshiya and Abu Sabha families.
Five tractors damaged the land on the pretext that it was located within Israel's borders, farmers told Ma'an.
The fields had already been planted with grains and belonged to the Abu Iram, Jabarin, Hoshiya and Abu Sabha families.
The Israeli West Jerusalem municipality Monday destroyed a mobile caravan used as a storage belonging to a Palestinian in al-Tur neighborhood in East Jerusalem under the pretext it was put there without authorization, according to the owner.
Ali Jubeh, 42, said municipality workers broke open the door to his caravan, which he placed on his land to store furniture and clothes, removed what was inside in his absence and proceeded to destroy it.
He said the municipality had previously demolished his home in addition to a mobile home he later used to shelter him and his family.
Ali Jubeh, 42, said municipality workers broke open the door to his caravan, which he placed on his land to store furniture and clothes, removed what was inside in his absence and proceeded to destroy it.
He said the municipality had previously demolished his home in addition to a mobile home he later used to shelter him and his family.
Israeli forces confiscated Monday over 400 chickens from a poultry farm in Yabad, southwest of Jenin, according to security sources.
They said the Israeli forces raided the farm owned by Ragheb Mahajna located close to Mabo Dotan settlement and confiscated the chickens under the pretext the farm was located in Area C, which is under full Israeli military control.
They said the Israeli forces raided the farm owned by Ragheb Mahajna located close to Mabo Dotan settlement and confiscated the chickens under the pretext the farm was located in Area C, which is under full Israeli military control.
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The Israeli municipality of West Jerusalem demolished Monday a house in Wadi Qaddoum, an area in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan, under the pretext it was built without a license.
Mohammad Sawahreh, 38, owner of the house, told WAFA that municipality workers and a bulldozer arrived at his house around 5:30 in the morning to demolish it. He said an Israeli police force protected the workers as they removed the furniture from the 120-square meter house, which was build 18 years ago, and proceeded to demolish it. |
Sawahreh said that although he has been paying a fine for building without a permit and that his case was still pending in court, the Israeli West Jerusalem municipality sent its crews to demolish it most likely in anticipation of a ruling to stop the demolition order the municipality had issued against his house.
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The Aqsa foundation for endowment and heritage said that extremist Jewish settlers on Saturday sabotaged the cemetery of the ethnically cleansed Muzayri'a village in Ramla district.
In a report on Sunday, the Aqsa foundation added that the settlers destroyed 15 graves in the cemetery entirely. The foundation held the Israeli occupation authority fully responsible for this serious violation, affirming that this act is part of the systematic crimes committed by Jewish settlers against the Islamic sites and holy places throughout the occupied lands. |
It affirmed that it would take action to protect the cemetery and would report what happened to it to the competent authorities.
9 feb 2014
Twenty-five aid organisations working in the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem warned on Friday that Israel's demolition of Palestinian properties has increased sharply since the resumption of the peace talks last July. In a statement by the NGOs, including Oxfam and Christian Aid, they said that the demolition of Palestinian properties has increased by 75 per cent since July compared with the same period in 2012.
The organisations added that 663 Palestinian-owned buildings, including 122 built with financial support from international donors, were destroyed last year. They pointed out that this is the highest for five years.
According to the statement, local and international aid organisations faced increasingly severe restrictions on getting aid to Palestinians affected by the "illegal" demolitions. They called this a violation of Israel's obligation to respect the delivery of humanitarian aid.
The International Committee of the Red Cross announced that it would stop handing tents out to Palestinians who lose their homes in the border areas between the occupied West Bank and Jordan because Israel hinders the delivery of aid so much. "The Israelis sometimes confiscate the tents and aid," the committee claimed.
Israeli occupied the Gaza Strip, the West Bank and East Jerusalem in 1967. It withdrew unilaterally from Gaza in 2005 but has maintained a strict blockade on the territory, which is still regarded in law as being occupied. Palestinians demand that Israel should evacuate around 500,000 illegal settlers living in the West Bank, as well as its army.
The organisations added that 663 Palestinian-owned buildings, including 122 built with financial support from international donors, were destroyed last year. They pointed out that this is the highest for five years.
According to the statement, local and international aid organisations faced increasingly severe restrictions on getting aid to Palestinians affected by the "illegal" demolitions. They called this a violation of Israel's obligation to respect the delivery of humanitarian aid.
The International Committee of the Red Cross announced that it would stop handing tents out to Palestinians who lose their homes in the border areas between the occupied West Bank and Jordan because Israel hinders the delivery of aid so much. "The Israelis sometimes confiscate the tents and aid," the committee claimed.
Israeli occupied the Gaza Strip, the West Bank and East Jerusalem in 1967. It withdrew unilaterally from Gaza in 2005 but has maintained a strict blockade on the territory, which is still regarded in law as being occupied. Palestinians demand that Israel should evacuate around 500,000 illegal settlers living in the West Bank, as well as its army.
The Israeli occupation authority (IOA) served a demolition notification to Musleh Al-Badawi in Qaryut village, south of Nablus, on Saturday. Activist Bashar Al-Qaryuti told the PIC reporter that the IOA ordered the demolition of Musleh’s house, which is still under construction, and water well at the pretext of lack of building permit.
The activist, however, noted that the house and water well were in area B, which is supposed to be under the jurisdiction of the Palestinian Authority.
Musleh said that he built the house to meet his family’s needs, complaining at the same time of repeated Jewish settlers’ attacks on his family and of the Israel military’s refusal to allow him to tend to his land.
The activist, however, noted that the house and water well were in area B, which is supposed to be under the jurisdiction of the Palestinian Authority.
Musleh said that he built the house to meet his family’s needs, complaining at the same time of repeated Jewish settlers’ attacks on his family and of the Israel military’s refusal to allow him to tend to his land.
8 feb 2014
By UCS-J
The following story was issued by the Media Office of the Union of Charitable Societies-Jerusalem. UCS-J is an umbrella organization with 150 NGO members from across the Palestinian Territories.
Similar to other pregnant women who eagerly await their transitions into motherhood, on that gloomy morning May Aldebai was speaking to her unborn baby.
She was telling him about the cozy room she had prepared for him, his warm bed, the nice clothes and the toys that would come to life at the moment of his arrival to the world.
Mai did not imagine that before the clock had struck 10 a.m., all of her baby's clothes and toys, along with her dreams, would be smashed and buried beneath the rubble of her family home.
In 2008, Azam Idriss and his son-in-law Bahaa Aldbai bought a piece of land in the Ashqariyeh neighborhood in Beit Hanina, East Jerusalem.
Two years later, they took out loans to build a single-story house and divided it into two apartments in order to protect them from the winter cold and summer heat. The apartments would be their family shelter, and would come to house fifteen people.
However, during the construction they were subjected to a great deal of harassment by the Israeli municipality, which even issued a fine of 170,000 shekels ($48,200) against them under the claim of unlicensed construction.
Drowning in the debts of construction and the fines they received due to construction, the family worked day and night in order to pay them off, all the while hoping that the situation would not get any worse. They hoped that the harassment would end and eventually the house would be turned to a safe home where their children could grow and prosper.
Once the construction was finished, however, harassment only got worse. This time, it was Israeli settlers were acting under the protection of occupying forces that began causing problems, Idriss explained. More specifically, a settler named Ariel King started to claim that he owned the land despite the fact that Idriss and Aldbai had legally purchased it.
King and other settlers would come during the night to spy on the house through the windows, terrifying the women and children of the family. These actions occurred under the protection of Israeli police, Idriss recounts.
Israeli journalists also used to accompany King to film the house from the outside, holding interviews around the house with him and other settlers without acquiring permission from the house's true owners.
40 days after King's threats
The following story was issued by the Media Office of the Union of Charitable Societies-Jerusalem. UCS-J is an umbrella organization with 150 NGO members from across the Palestinian Territories.
Similar to other pregnant women who eagerly await their transitions into motherhood, on that gloomy morning May Aldebai was speaking to her unborn baby.
She was telling him about the cozy room she had prepared for him, his warm bed, the nice clothes and the toys that would come to life at the moment of his arrival to the world.
Mai did not imagine that before the clock had struck 10 a.m., all of her baby's clothes and toys, along with her dreams, would be smashed and buried beneath the rubble of her family home.
In 2008, Azam Idriss and his son-in-law Bahaa Aldbai bought a piece of land in the Ashqariyeh neighborhood in Beit Hanina, East Jerusalem.
Two years later, they took out loans to build a single-story house and divided it into two apartments in order to protect them from the winter cold and summer heat. The apartments would be their family shelter, and would come to house fifteen people.
However, during the construction they were subjected to a great deal of harassment by the Israeli municipality, which even issued a fine of 170,000 shekels ($48,200) against them under the claim of unlicensed construction.
Drowning in the debts of construction and the fines they received due to construction, the family worked day and night in order to pay them off, all the while hoping that the situation would not get any worse. They hoped that the harassment would end and eventually the house would be turned to a safe home where their children could grow and prosper.
Once the construction was finished, however, harassment only got worse. This time, it was Israeli settlers were acting under the protection of occupying forces that began causing problems, Idriss explained. More specifically, a settler named Ariel King started to claim that he owned the land despite the fact that Idriss and Aldbai had legally purchased it.
King and other settlers would come during the night to spy on the house through the windows, terrifying the women and children of the family. These actions occurred under the protection of Israeli police, Idriss recounts.
Israeli journalists also used to accompany King to film the house from the outside, holding interviews around the house with him and other settlers without acquiring permission from the house's true owners.
40 days after King's threats
After a period of 40 days, King's threats against the house transformed into the very real practices of demolition. On Monday, Jan. 27 at 9 a.m., Israeli police forces, employees from the Jerusalem Municipality and a group of settlers led by Ariel King raided the house and entered the bedrooms while the family was asleep.
The Israeli authorities attacked the house without the slightest respect for the people inside, leaving the children in a state of panic.
Without any prior notice, the Israeli forces began demolishing the house. They did not give the family any chance to gather their belongings, not even a few clothes to protect against the winter weather nor their official documents and certificates.
Even though the Israeli forces were aware that Mai Aldbai was pregnant, they detained her for several hours, bringing panic and fear to her heart. The occupying forces also assaulted other family members, leaving the children traumatized as a result of the brutal demolition of their home and the arbitrary assault on their family.
When a child becomes a witness and a victim
It was not easy for Muhammad Aldbai, a two year old child, to witness the scenes of raid, demolition, and armed attack on his family home.
The neighbors contacted his father Bahaa Aldbai, who was at work at the time of the demolition, to inform him about the attack. When he arrived, he tried to protect his terrified son and pregnant wife, who had been detained. Yet the occupying forces also arrested him and took him away to a police station in the settlement of Neve Yaakov.
All these frightful images of attack, arrest and demolition were recorded in Muhammad's mind. Recalling these images over and over in his caused him to live in a state of panic, and since then he has had recurring nightmares. The child developed a stutter, as well as sudden bouts of screaming and crying and a paralyzing, constant fear of strangers.
After the Demolition …
The Israeli authorities attacked the house without the slightest respect for the people inside, leaving the children in a state of panic.
Without any prior notice, the Israeli forces began demolishing the house. They did not give the family any chance to gather their belongings, not even a few clothes to protect against the winter weather nor their official documents and certificates.
Even though the Israeli forces were aware that Mai Aldbai was pregnant, they detained her for several hours, bringing panic and fear to her heart. The occupying forces also assaulted other family members, leaving the children traumatized as a result of the brutal demolition of their home and the arbitrary assault on their family.
When a child becomes a witness and a victim
It was not easy for Muhammad Aldbai, a two year old child, to witness the scenes of raid, demolition, and armed attack on his family home.
The neighbors contacted his father Bahaa Aldbai, who was at work at the time of the demolition, to inform him about the attack. When he arrived, he tried to protect his terrified son and pregnant wife, who had been detained. Yet the occupying forces also arrested him and took him away to a police station in the settlement of Neve Yaakov.
All these frightful images of attack, arrest and demolition were recorded in Muhammad's mind. Recalling these images over and over in his caused him to live in a state of panic, and since then he has had recurring nightmares. The child developed a stutter, as well as sudden bouts of screaming and crying and a paralyzing, constant fear of strangers.
After the Demolition …
Fifteen people, old and young, are now living in two tents, without protection from the winter cold. They sleep, drink and eat in the tents since they lost all of their belongings, including their clothes, papers, and much of their savings.
When they searched in the rubble to find their money and the gold that they had saved up for their son's marriage, they could not find it anywhere.
Fatena Idriss speculates that during the raid prior to the demolition, occupying forces may have taken the disappeared money and gold, whose total worth amounted to more than 20,000 shekels ($5,700).
No Application of Geneva Convention
This act of demolition was not the first, and it will not be the last. On the same day that Idriss and Aldbai's house was demolished, Israeli occupying forces demolished a total of four houses in Beit Hanina and Issawiya.
Thousands of homes that have been destroyed since 1967, thousands of families have been displaced, and thousands of people are currently living under the threat of demolition and displacement.
This policy of not granting building permits to Palestinians in occupied East Jerusalem is one of the key policies that the occupation adopts in order to displace Palestinians from the city. This is despite of the fact that the residents of Jerusalem are civilians living under occupation, and thus the Fourth Geneva Convention applies to them according to prevailing standards of international law.
There are many questions that spin in the minds of all Jerusalemites who manage to live in Jerusalem despite the difficult conditions, including:
Why building permits are granted easily in West Jerusalem but not in East Jerusalem?
Why is the Fourth Geneva Convention not applied to the Palestinians in occupied Jerusalem?
When they searched in the rubble to find their money and the gold that they had saved up for their son's marriage, they could not find it anywhere.
Fatena Idriss speculates that during the raid prior to the demolition, occupying forces may have taken the disappeared money and gold, whose total worth amounted to more than 20,000 shekels ($5,700).
No Application of Geneva Convention
This act of demolition was not the first, and it will not be the last. On the same day that Idriss and Aldbai's house was demolished, Israeli occupying forces demolished a total of four houses in Beit Hanina and Issawiya.
Thousands of homes that have been destroyed since 1967, thousands of families have been displaced, and thousands of people are currently living under the threat of demolition and displacement.
This policy of not granting building permits to Palestinians in occupied East Jerusalem is one of the key policies that the occupation adopts in order to displace Palestinians from the city. This is despite of the fact that the residents of Jerusalem are civilians living under occupation, and thus the Fourth Geneva Convention applies to them according to prevailing standards of international law.
There are many questions that spin in the minds of all Jerusalemites who manage to live in Jerusalem despite the difficult conditions, including:
Why building permits are granted easily in West Jerusalem but not in East Jerusalem?
Why is the Fourth Geneva Convention not applied to the Palestinians in occupied Jerusalem?
Munther Amira Chairman of the Supreme Coordinating Committee of the popular resistance in Palestine told PNN that the displacement of the Israeli occupation of Ein Hejleh village yesterday does not mean the end of the issue.Amira said it is just the beginning of more Palestinian work in the Jordan Valley to confirm it's Palestinian identity for this vital region to the future State of Palestine.
He said that details of the racist crimes carried out by hundreds of Israeli soldiers at dawn today against the inhabitants of the village and the barbaric storm and destroy the village reflects the brutality and racism that Israel represent.
He added that all the crimes carried out by the occupation army and his officers at dawn today will increase the insistence of the Popular Resistance Committees in Palestine to work better and wider and deeper their struggle to protect the Palestinian territories.
He said that experience of Ein Hejleh was the first step in the multi-events to be carried out to confirm the Palestinian identity of Jordan Valley.
He also stressed that the experience was unique in more than one area and most important that the youth and young generation circumvent and restore the spirit of struggle and volunteer work which Surprises the Israeli occupation,
According to Amira, the Ein Hejleh was the first in seeking for the training and education of youth participants from all cities, villages and refugee camps on the techniques of popular resistance, stressing that there are plans for further work in the area of Ein Hejleh and along the line of the Valleys.
He added that the occupation think today he managed to demolish the village but will be surprised with the future efficiencies in the near future.
He said that what the occupation did today reflects the anger and racism of Israelis and as a result of the failure and wrong information of his belief that the idea of ein Hejleh was just effective for a day or two, but thay wear surprise of the continuation of work and quality during a week .
Amira explains that the work has been developed in the village , we brought tractors, we brought solar cells also we have been the restoring some older homes and we discussed & searched during the past few days ways of investing in the region on more than one level, including the tourism and agricultural sectors, where the focus was on the importance of changing the conditions on the ground.
One of the most important things that Amira stressed is the arrival of 500 Palestinian in addition to The number of officials who participated in the events like Member of the Central Committee of Fatah, Mahmoud Aloul and secretary-general of the Palestinian National Initiative Mustafa Barghouthi, along with visits by ministers and international officials to discuss the possibilities of investment and development and planning for the region as a Palestinian area purist, which is a great success for the idea of the village, which did not end with the evacuation by occupation on Friday.
He explained that the put the village on the map Palestine , noting that the PRC will continue to communicate and work with the aim of Deir Hijleh Church to start working in order to invest in the region, according to the agreement with the development institutions Who visited the village before evacuate it by occupation
Munther Amira ended his speech with the Palestine News Network assuring that the resistance committees of settlement and occupation will organize more events in the Jordan valley to confirm that the Ein Hejleh is the starting point for the work of the popular to protect the land and confirm the Palestinian identity of the aria , stressing that the Occupation policies will fail to continue the popular resistance in the Jordan Valley.
He said that details of the racist crimes carried out by hundreds of Israeli soldiers at dawn today against the inhabitants of the village and the barbaric storm and destroy the village reflects the brutality and racism that Israel represent.
He added that all the crimes carried out by the occupation army and his officers at dawn today will increase the insistence of the Popular Resistance Committees in Palestine to work better and wider and deeper their struggle to protect the Palestinian territories.
He said that experience of Ein Hejleh was the first step in the multi-events to be carried out to confirm the Palestinian identity of Jordan Valley.
He also stressed that the experience was unique in more than one area and most important that the youth and young generation circumvent and restore the spirit of struggle and volunteer work which Surprises the Israeli occupation,
According to Amira, the Ein Hejleh was the first in seeking for the training and education of youth participants from all cities, villages and refugee camps on the techniques of popular resistance, stressing that there are plans for further work in the area of Ein Hejleh and along the line of the Valleys.
He added that the occupation think today he managed to demolish the village but will be surprised with the future efficiencies in the near future.
He said that what the occupation did today reflects the anger and racism of Israelis and as a result of the failure and wrong information of his belief that the idea of ein Hejleh was just effective for a day or two, but thay wear surprise of the continuation of work and quality during a week .
Amira explains that the work has been developed in the village , we brought tractors, we brought solar cells also we have been the restoring some older homes and we discussed & searched during the past few days ways of investing in the region on more than one level, including the tourism and agricultural sectors, where the focus was on the importance of changing the conditions on the ground.
One of the most important things that Amira stressed is the arrival of 500 Palestinian in addition to The number of officials who participated in the events like Member of the Central Committee of Fatah, Mahmoud Aloul and secretary-general of the Palestinian National Initiative Mustafa Barghouthi, along with visits by ministers and international officials to discuss the possibilities of investment and development and planning for the region as a Palestinian area purist, which is a great success for the idea of the village, which did not end with the evacuation by occupation on Friday.
He explained that the put the village on the map Palestine , noting that the PRC will continue to communicate and work with the aim of Deir Hijleh Church to start working in order to invest in the region, according to the agreement with the development institutions Who visited the village before evacuate it by occupation
Munther Amira ended his speech with the Palestine News Network assuring that the resistance committees of settlement and occupation will organize more events in the Jordan valley to confirm that the Ein Hejleh is the starting point for the work of the popular to protect the land and confirm the Palestinian identity of the aria , stressing that the Occupation policies will fail to continue the popular resistance in the Jordan Valley.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) confirmed that Israeli demolition policy has increased by 43% since the talks' resumption in August 2013. ICRC has suspended provision of tents to displaced Palestinians in the Jordan Valley in protest over Israeli demolition policy.
"We're suspending the distribution of tents and shelter materials because we have seen a pattern of obstacles and confiscations since the beginning of 2013," said Jon Martin Larsen, a spokesman for the ICRC, calling for "an immediate halt to the demolitions of Palestinian homes".
The international organization also called on Israeli authorities to "facilitate immediate, full and unimpeded humanitarian access so that aid can reach people in need."
According to the data of the United Nations Coordination Office for Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), of 286 demolitions that occurred after the beginning of the current round in the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, 171 occurred in the Jordan Valley.
Accordingly, 452 people were displaced, accounting to 43 percent of displacement during the negotiations process, while 200 demolitions were carried out in 2012.
The organization's figures indicated that the total number of Palestinian structures destroyed in 2013, stood at 390, up from 279 a year earlier.
"We're suspending the distribution of tents and shelter materials because we have seen a pattern of obstacles and confiscations since the beginning of 2013," said Jon Martin Larsen, a spokesman for the ICRC, calling for "an immediate halt to the demolitions of Palestinian homes".
The international organization also called on Israeli authorities to "facilitate immediate, full and unimpeded humanitarian access so that aid can reach people in need."
According to the data of the United Nations Coordination Office for Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), of 286 demolitions that occurred after the beginning of the current round in the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, 171 occurred in the Jordan Valley.
Accordingly, 452 people were displaced, accounting to 43 percent of displacement during the negotiations process, while 200 demolitions were carried out in 2012.
The organization's figures indicated that the total number of Palestinian structures destroyed in 2013, stood at 390, up from 279 a year earlier.
The Israeli occupation forces (IOF) demolished another protest camp named "Al-Awdah 2" that was established by Palestinian activists on Friday in the central Jordan Valley on the ruins of Ein Jozaleh village, which was destroyed and ethnically cleansed by the Israeli army in 1967. Spokesman for "Save the Jordan Valley" campaign Bassam Muslemani told the Palestinian information center (PIC) that the camp was aimed at sending a message to all parties to the peace talks that the Jordan Valley and all the occupied Palestinians lands belong to the Palestinian people alone and will remain so.
Spokesman Muslemani added that the IOF removed the protest camp a few hours after it was established in the afternoon yesterday by dozens of youth activists.
He explained that senior Israeli commanders from the area along with a large force of Israeli troops stormed the village and told the activists to evacuate it at the pretext it was a closed military zone.
The spokesman affirmed that the activists told the officers that they were peaceful activists protesting Israel's occupation of the Palestinian lands.
Afterwards, the officers left the area, but later a large force of Israeli troops showed up and said they had orders to evacuate the activists and remove their tents by force, according to the spokesman of the campaign.
The raiding soldiers then arrested Ayman Bani Odeh and handed his fellow activists Aysar Muslemani and Jamal Muslemani summonses for interrogation from the Israeli military intelligence before they removed and confiscated the tents.
This protest camp was the third of its kind in the Jordan Valley after youth activists recently established two makeshift villages or protest camps in the northern Jordan Valley.
All these protest camps were intended to protest the intents to give away the Jordan Valley to the Israeli occupation state as part of a US-drafted framework deal with the Palestinian Authority.
Spokesman Muslemani added that the IOF removed the protest camp a few hours after it was established in the afternoon yesterday by dozens of youth activists.
He explained that senior Israeli commanders from the area along with a large force of Israeli troops stormed the village and told the activists to evacuate it at the pretext it was a closed military zone.
The spokesman affirmed that the activists told the officers that they were peaceful activists protesting Israel's occupation of the Palestinian lands.
Afterwards, the officers left the area, but later a large force of Israeli troops showed up and said they had orders to evacuate the activists and remove their tents by force, according to the spokesman of the campaign.
The raiding soldiers then arrested Ayman Bani Odeh and handed his fellow activists Aysar Muslemani and Jamal Muslemani summonses for interrogation from the Israeli military intelligence before they removed and confiscated the tents.
This protest camp was the third of its kind in the Jordan Valley after youth activists recently established two makeshift villages or protest camps in the northern Jordan Valley.
All these protest camps were intended to protest the intents to give away the Jordan Valley to the Israeli occupation state as part of a US-drafted framework deal with the Palestinian Authority.