19 dec 2017
Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) on Tuesday handed over an eviction order to Mohammad Dadou from al-Khader town, south of Bethlehem. The order stipulates the eviction of his land which he had reclaimed after Jewish settlers had encroached on it.
The coordinator of the Committee against Settlement and Separation Wall in the town, Ahmad Salah, told Quds Press on Tuesday that the IOF gave the man a period of 24 hours to appeal the decision before Israeli courts.
Several years ago, an Israeli settlement society took over part of 10-dunum land and planted it with grapes and installed an irrigation network, Salah recalled.
He said that the Israeli occupation authority claims that the land is a “state property”.
The coordinator of the Committee against Settlement and Separation Wall in the town, Ahmad Salah, told Quds Press on Tuesday that the IOF gave the man a period of 24 hours to appeal the decision before Israeli courts.
Several years ago, an Israeli settlement society took over part of 10-dunum land and planted it with grapes and installed an irrigation network, Salah recalled.
He said that the Israeli occupation authority claims that the land is a “state property”.
The Israeli occupation forces (IOF) at dawn Tuesday raided homes and kidnapped a number of Palestinian citizens during campaigns launched in different areas of the occupied West Bank.
The IOF broke into the towns of Kafr Ra'i, Arraba, Ya'bad, Raba and Jalqamus in Jenin province and arrested seven Palestinian citizens, most of whom are Hamas supporters.
Local sources told the PIC reporter that the IOF soldiers stormed Jalqamus town to the south of Jenin city, raided the family house of the Palestinian ex-prisoners Yousuf and Mohammed al-Qirm, who were deported to Gaza after being freed in the Wafa al-Ahrar prisoner swap deal, and arrested their 22-year-old brother Muawiya.
During a raid campaign launched in the nearby town of Raba, the IOF broke into the house of the Palestinian martyr Hasan al-Bazur, who carried out an anti-occupation car-ramming attack a year ago, and arrested his father after searching the house and wreaking havoc on it. Two other Palestinians were arrested in the same town.
Meanwhile in Ya'bad town to the south of Jenin, the IOF arrested the Palestinian citizen Mahmoud Hamdan and his son after raiding and searching their house.
Many suffocation cases were reported in the violent clashes that erupted during the night hours in Arraba between the IOF soldiers who raided the town amid heavy firing of tear gas canisters and the Palestinian youths who responded by throwing stones.
According to local residents, the Israeli soldiers raided the house of the Palestinian ex-prisoner Mona Qa'dan and handed her a notice to appear before the Israeli intelligence in Salem military camp.
A Palestinian youth was reportedly arrested in another IOF campaign in Siris town to the south of Jenin city.
The IOF also broke into Beit Furik town to the east of Nablus city and arrested a Palestinian citizen. Clashes flared up at the time between the Israeli soldiers and Palestinian youths where a Palestinian young man, whose identity is not known yet, was injured.
Two other Palestinians were detained in al-Fari'ah refugee camp to the north of Nablus city.
The IOF soldiers kidnapped the 17-year-old girl Ahed al-Tamimi, who has previously received "Handala Courage Award", from her house in Nabi Saleh village to the west of Ramallah for challenging Israeli soldiers during the clashes that took place in the village two days ago.
The IOF also confiscated a vehicle belonging to a Palestinian citizen living in al-Jilda neighborhood in al-Khalil.
The IOF broke into the towns of Kafr Ra'i, Arraba, Ya'bad, Raba and Jalqamus in Jenin province and arrested seven Palestinian citizens, most of whom are Hamas supporters.
Local sources told the PIC reporter that the IOF soldiers stormed Jalqamus town to the south of Jenin city, raided the family house of the Palestinian ex-prisoners Yousuf and Mohammed al-Qirm, who were deported to Gaza after being freed in the Wafa al-Ahrar prisoner swap deal, and arrested their 22-year-old brother Muawiya.
During a raid campaign launched in the nearby town of Raba, the IOF broke into the house of the Palestinian martyr Hasan al-Bazur, who carried out an anti-occupation car-ramming attack a year ago, and arrested his father after searching the house and wreaking havoc on it. Two other Palestinians were arrested in the same town.
Meanwhile in Ya'bad town to the south of Jenin, the IOF arrested the Palestinian citizen Mahmoud Hamdan and his son after raiding and searching their house.
Many suffocation cases were reported in the violent clashes that erupted during the night hours in Arraba between the IOF soldiers who raided the town amid heavy firing of tear gas canisters and the Palestinian youths who responded by throwing stones.
According to local residents, the Israeli soldiers raided the house of the Palestinian ex-prisoner Mona Qa'dan and handed her a notice to appear before the Israeli intelligence in Salem military camp.
A Palestinian youth was reportedly arrested in another IOF campaign in Siris town to the south of Jenin city.
The IOF also broke into Beit Furik town to the east of Nablus city and arrested a Palestinian citizen. Clashes flared up at the time between the Israeli soldiers and Palestinian youths where a Palestinian young man, whose identity is not known yet, was injured.
Two other Palestinians were detained in al-Fari'ah refugee camp to the north of Nablus city.
The IOF soldiers kidnapped the 17-year-old girl Ahed al-Tamimi, who has previously received "Handala Courage Award", from her house in Nabi Saleh village to the west of Ramallah for challenging Israeli soldiers during the clashes that took place in the village two days ago.
The IOF also confiscated a vehicle belonging to a Palestinian citizen living in al-Jilda neighborhood in al-Khalil.
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Israeli forces detained a 17-year-old Palestinian girl from the Nabi Saleh village in northwestern Ramallah in the central occupied West Bank on Tuesday morning before dawn.
Israeli forces raided the home of the al-Tamimi family, well-known internationally for their activism against the Israeli occupation, and detained Ahed al-Tamimi, 17. Israeli forces also confiscated computers, mobile phones and cameras from the house during the raid. According to locals, Ahed was arrested over a video went viral on |
social media of her slapping an armed Israeli officer during a raid on Nabi Saleh.
Ahed Tamimi is well-known across Palestine and the Arab world for videos of her, since her childhood, defiantly resisting Israeli soldiers who clash with Palestinians in her village nearly every week.
Two years ago, her family made headlines when an Israeli soldier violently attempted to arrest her younger brother , who had one arm in a cast at the time. Ahed and her mother manager to pull the soldier of her brother and free him.
Israeli military raids into Palestinian cities, towns, and refugee camps are a near daily occurrence.
According to the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society (PPS), since US President Donald Trump’s announcement recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, Israeli forces have detained 450 Palestinians, including 138 minors, and nine women.
Prisoners rights group Addameer recorded 6,198 Palestinians were detained by Israel as of October. The group has estimated that some 40 percent of Palestinian men will be detained by Israel at some point in their lives.
Ahed Tamimi is well-known across Palestine and the Arab world for videos of her, since her childhood, defiantly resisting Israeli soldiers who clash with Palestinians in her village nearly every week.
Two years ago, her family made headlines when an Israeli soldier violently attempted to arrest her younger brother , who had one arm in a cast at the time. Ahed and her mother manager to pull the soldier of her brother and free him.
Israeli military raids into Palestinian cities, towns, and refugee camps are a near daily occurrence.
According to the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society (PPS), since US President Donald Trump’s announcement recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, Israeli forces have detained 450 Palestinians, including 138 minors, and nine women.
Prisoners rights group Addameer recorded 6,198 Palestinians were detained by Israel as of October. The group has estimated that some 40 percent of Palestinian men will be detained by Israel at some point in their lives.
17 dec 2017
Groups of Jewish fanatic settlers of Kiryat Arba settlement on Sunday cut fruitful trees of almonds, olives and peaches in Palestinian lands near Beit Ummar town north of al-Khalil.
The PIC reporter said that the land owners tried to confront the settlers and ban them from cutting their trees, but they had to retreat under threat of being shot right in their farms.
The trees that were attacked by extremist settlers are owned by Palestinian families of Adi, Awad, Ebraigheth and Abu Ayyash, the reporter pointed out.
The PIC reporter said that the land owners tried to confront the settlers and ban them from cutting their trees, but they had to retreat under threat of being shot right in their farms.
The trees that were attacked by extremist settlers are owned by Palestinian families of Adi, Awad, Ebraigheth and Abu Ayyash, the reporter pointed out.
Israeli municipality forced the Jerusalemite man Haitham Abu Rammouz on Sunday to raze his own 2-story home in Silwan town, east of Occupied Jerusalem, after refusing to issue him a construction permit he asked for 3 years ago.
Abu Rammouz told Quds Press that he had to knock down his home, in which he has been living for over ten years.
He was forced to raze it by himself in order to avoid bearing expensive costs if the demolition was made by the municipality crews, which exceeds 50,000 shekels.
Abu Rammouz stressed that he will always remain in his land even if he has to live in a tent in order not to leave it for the Israelis.
Abu Rammouz told Quds Press that he had to knock down his home, in which he has been living for over ten years.
He was forced to raze it by himself in order to avoid bearing expensive costs if the demolition was made by the municipality crews, which exceeds 50,000 shekels.
Abu Rammouz stressed that he will always remain in his land even if he has to live in a tent in order not to leave it for the Israelis.
Israeli soldiers abducted, late on Saturday at night, a young man from Tubas city, in northeastern West Bank, and invaded a home near Jenin, in northern West Bank, before confiscating cash from a home of a political prisoner in Qabatia town, south of Jenin and caused many Palestinians to suffer the effects of teargas inhalation in Ya’bad nearby town.
The Palestinian Prisoners’ Society (PPS) said the soldiers abducted Hasan Fares Daraghma, while crossing the al-Hamra military roadblock, and took him to an unknown destination.
Furthermore, the soldiers invaded a home of a Palestinian political prisoner in Qabatia town, south of Jenin, and ransacked the property before illegally confiscating 1800 Jordanian Dinars.
The family of detainee Mohammad Riyad Zakarna, said the soldiers violently searched the property, after breaking into it, and confiscated the cash.
Furthermore, the soldiers invaded Ya’bad town, south of Jenin, and caused many Palestinians to suffer the effects of teargas inhalation.
The Palestinian Prisoners’ Society (PPS) said the soldiers abducted Hasan Fares Daraghma, while crossing the al-Hamra military roadblock, and took him to an unknown destination.
Furthermore, the soldiers invaded a home of a Palestinian political prisoner in Qabatia town, south of Jenin, and ransacked the property before illegally confiscating 1800 Jordanian Dinars.
The family of detainee Mohammad Riyad Zakarna, said the soldiers violently searched the property, after breaking into it, and confiscated the cash.
Furthermore, the soldiers invaded Ya’bad town, south of Jenin, and caused many Palestinians to suffer the effects of teargas inhalation.
A group of extremist Israeli colonists, illegal living on Palestinian lands in the occupied West Bank, uprooted more than approximately 500 Dunams of Palestinian lands, in Orif village, south of the northern West Bank city of Nablus.
The Israeli assailants came from the illegal Yitzhar colony, and uprooted 500 Dunams (123.5 Acres) in Masahel area, in ‘Orif.
The lands are privately owned by many Palestinian families, including al-Asmar, Dar Khalil and Dar Jaber.
It is part of ongoing assaults targeting the Palestinians and their lands in several parts of the West Bank.
Such attacks include uprooting farmlands and orchards, burning them, especially olive trees, in addition to flooding them with sewage.
The Israeli assailants came from the illegal Yitzhar colony, and uprooted 500 Dunams (123.5 Acres) in Masahel area, in ‘Orif.
The lands are privately owned by many Palestinian families, including al-Asmar, Dar Khalil and Dar Jaber.
It is part of ongoing assaults targeting the Palestinians and their lands in several parts of the West Bank.
Such attacks include uprooting farmlands and orchards, burning them, especially olive trees, in addition to flooding them with sewage.
The Israeli army’s civil administration last Tuesday, December 12, delivered a demolition order against the only school in the Bedouin community of Abu al-Nawwar, east of Occupied Jerusalem.
Spokesman for the Jerusalem Bedouin communities Abu Imad al-Jahhalin told the Palestinian Information Center (PIC) that employees from the civil administration escorted by soldiers stormed Abu al-Nawwar hamlet and put up a demolition order giving the residents 72 hours before they come again to remove the school structures.
Jahhalin affirmed that a lawyer had obtained an injunction from the Israeli high court of justice extending the deadline given for the demolition of the school until next Thursday, but the civil administration could come any moment to raze it.
He noted that Abu al-Nawwar school had been demolished four times before during 2016, stressing that such Israeli measure would not intimidate the local residents.
Israel’s systematic demolition activities against Palestinian homes and structures in Bedouin hamlets of east Jerusalem is aimed at forcing the residents to leave their areas there in order to complete its settlement project “E1.”
Settlement construction in E1 area is considered one of the most settlement plans that aim to isolate the south of the West Bank from its north and tighten Israel’s grip over the holy city.
Spokesman for the Jerusalem Bedouin communities Abu Imad al-Jahhalin told the Palestinian Information Center (PIC) that employees from the civil administration escorted by soldiers stormed Abu al-Nawwar hamlet and put up a demolition order giving the residents 72 hours before they come again to remove the school structures.
Jahhalin affirmed that a lawyer had obtained an injunction from the Israeli high court of justice extending the deadline given for the demolition of the school until next Thursday, but the civil administration could come any moment to raze it.
He noted that Abu al-Nawwar school had been demolished four times before during 2016, stressing that such Israeli measure would not intimidate the local residents.
Israel’s systematic demolition activities against Palestinian homes and structures in Bedouin hamlets of east Jerusalem is aimed at forcing the residents to leave their areas there in order to complete its settlement project “E1.”
Settlement construction in E1 area is considered one of the most settlement plans that aim to isolate the south of the West Bank from its north and tighten Israel’s grip over the holy city.
14 dec 2017
Jewish settlers who were evicted last February from the illegal West Bank outpost of Amona because it was established on privately owned land are now being moved to mobile homes on a land that was previously expropriated from individual Palestinian owners for public use.
According to Haaretz website, the plot of land is situated near the West Bank settlement of Ofra.
However, Haaretz has learned that no public buildings have ever been constructed on this land, although it was seized by the Israeli authorities for public use.
Some of the trailer homes were installed several weeks before Amona was forcibly evacuated, but Amona’s evacuees said then they would not live in them, so work on installing the trailers there was halted at the time.
The evacuation of Amona last February, the largest unauthorized Jewish outpost in the West Bank, came after a prolonged legal and political fight. Israel’s high court of justice had ordered and delayed its evacuation several times.
Recently, work on installing more than 10 trailers resumed at the site, which is adjacent to the Givat Zvi neighborhood of Ofra, north of Occupied Jerusalem.
Settlers said the trailers will later be relocated again to the settlement of Amihai, which is being developed for the former Amona residents, once infrastructure there is finished.
The Israeli army’s civil administration in the West Bank halted work at Givat Zvi after residents of Amona refused to relocate to the trailer homes there, and visitors in recent months to the site, which is only several hundred meters from where Amona stood, found it empty and abandoned.
Infrastructure for four additional trailers had been put in place, but the mobile homes themselves were never installed.
Now, however, the Mateh Binyamin regional council, the local government in the area, has resumed work on this seized Palestinian land, and this week workmen were seen again at the site, where several additional trailers have now been installed.
Maps belonging to the civil administration indicate that some of the trailers have indeed been placed on land that had been expropriated for public purposes but no public buildings have ever been built there.
In addition, trailer homes that were installed there were placed without permits of any kind.
According to Haaretz website, the plot of land is situated near the West Bank settlement of Ofra.
However, Haaretz has learned that no public buildings have ever been constructed on this land, although it was seized by the Israeli authorities for public use.
Some of the trailer homes were installed several weeks before Amona was forcibly evacuated, but Amona’s evacuees said then they would not live in them, so work on installing the trailers there was halted at the time.
The evacuation of Amona last February, the largest unauthorized Jewish outpost in the West Bank, came after a prolonged legal and political fight. Israel’s high court of justice had ordered and delayed its evacuation several times.
Recently, work on installing more than 10 trailers resumed at the site, which is adjacent to the Givat Zvi neighborhood of Ofra, north of Occupied Jerusalem.
Settlers said the trailers will later be relocated again to the settlement of Amihai, which is being developed for the former Amona residents, once infrastructure there is finished.
The Israeli army’s civil administration in the West Bank halted work at Givat Zvi after residents of Amona refused to relocate to the trailer homes there, and visitors in recent months to the site, which is only several hundred meters from where Amona stood, found it empty and abandoned.
Infrastructure for four additional trailers had been put in place, but the mobile homes themselves were never installed.
Now, however, the Mateh Binyamin regional council, the local government in the area, has resumed work on this seized Palestinian land, and this week workmen were seen again at the site, where several additional trailers have now been installed.
Maps belonging to the civil administration indicate that some of the trailers have indeed been placed on land that had been expropriated for public purposes but no public buildings have ever been built there.
In addition, trailer homes that were installed there were placed without permits of any kind.
Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) handed a home-demolition order to a Palestinian family in al-Walajeh town west of Bethlehem in the southern West Bank.
Local sources said that IOF troops raided Ain al-Juwaizah area north of the town and handed the Palestinian Khaled Abu Kheyara a notice that stipulates the demolition of his home which area is estimated at 120 square meters. He was given a 15-day period to appeal the order.
Israeli occupation authorities issued home-demolition orders against 40 houses in the same area in the town and carried out a number of demolition operations over the past months amid concerns of implementing other suspended orders.
Local sources said that IOF troops raided Ain al-Juwaizah area north of the town and handed the Palestinian Khaled Abu Kheyara a notice that stipulates the demolition of his home which area is estimated at 120 square meters. He was given a 15-day period to appeal the order.
Israeli occupation authorities issued home-demolition orders against 40 houses in the same area in the town and carried out a number of demolition operations over the past months amid concerns of implementing other suspended orders.
13 dec 2017
Israeli bulldozers on Wednesday demolished a Palestinian house in Zemer town in the northern 1948 occupied Palestine.
Palestinian sources reported that the Israeli bulldozers, accompanied by a military force, broke into Zemer town and demolished a house under construction on a privately owned Palestinian land without prior notice for allegedly lacking the necessary legal licenses.
Tension prevailed following the demolition operation as Zemer residents rallied to express their rejection of the Israeli practices aimed at uprooting them from their lands.
Nearly 1,800,000 Palestinians live in the 1948 occupied Palestinian territories and they descend from the 160,000 Palestinians who stayed in their lands following the Israeli occupation of Palestine in 1948.
The 1948 occupied Palestinian territories have recently witnessed a noticeable increase in the pace of house demolitions in an Israeli attempt to settle Palestinians in small overcrowded Arab communities.
Palestinian sources reported that the Israeli bulldozers, accompanied by a military force, broke into Zemer town and demolished a house under construction on a privately owned Palestinian land without prior notice for allegedly lacking the necessary legal licenses.
Tension prevailed following the demolition operation as Zemer residents rallied to express their rejection of the Israeli practices aimed at uprooting them from their lands.
Nearly 1,800,000 Palestinians live in the 1948 occupied Palestinian territories and they descend from the 160,000 Palestinians who stayed in their lands following the Israeli occupation of Palestine in 1948.
The 1948 occupied Palestinian territories have recently witnessed a noticeable increase in the pace of house demolitions in an Israeli attempt to settle Palestinians in small overcrowded Arab communities.
Israeli teams of the so-called civil administration on Wednesday raided Abu Nuwar Bedouin neighborhood east of Occupied Jerusalem and handed over a demolition notice against a school in the area.
Quds Press quoted the spokesman of the Bedouin community, Abu Emad al-Jahalein, as saying that the inhabitants were shocked of the news especially after they had obtained a Supreme Court decision against the school demolition order.
He pointed out that the school consists of two floors and offers education services to 26 students.
Israeli authorities plan to expel the Bedouins from east Jerusalem for the sake of completing the E1 settlement project which aims at separating the southern West Bank from its northern part and accordingly have full control over Occupied Jerusalem.
Quds Press quoted the spokesman of the Bedouin community, Abu Emad al-Jahalein, as saying that the inhabitants were shocked of the news especially after they had obtained a Supreme Court decision against the school demolition order.
He pointed out that the school consists of two floors and offers education services to 26 students.
Israeli authorities plan to expel the Bedouins from east Jerusalem for the sake of completing the E1 settlement project which aims at separating the southern West Bank from its northern part and accordingly have full control over Occupied Jerusalem.
12 dec 2017
A Palestinian committee taking care of Islamic cemeteries in Occupied Jerusalem has said that the Israeli occupation authority (IOA) is preparing for the construction of bases for the aerial tramway project in Bab al-Rahma cemetery, east of the Aqsa Mosque.
Head of the committee Mustafa Abu Zahra explained that employees from the Israeli nature and parks authority escorted by security forces started two days ago to remove trees and flatten a vast tract of land in the cemetery as a prelude to building bases and structures for cable cars as well as a national park.
The nature and parks authority claims it owns the annexed land in the southern part of the cemetery, although there are documents proving the cemetery is Islamic mortmain property belonging to the Islamic Waqf Authority.
Head of the committee Mustafa Abu Zahra explained that employees from the Israeli nature and parks authority escorted by security forces started two days ago to remove trees and flatten a vast tract of land in the cemetery as a prelude to building bases and structures for cable cars as well as a national park.
The nature and parks authority claims it owns the annexed land in the southern part of the cemetery, although there are documents proving the cemetery is Islamic mortmain property belonging to the Islamic Waqf Authority.
8 dec 2017
Bayan stands outside her family’s small home in East Jerusalem in August 2017
DCIP, Ramallah, December 8, 2017--
Three siblings’ dream of having their own rooms rapidly collapsed under the strictly enforced Israeli building laws for Palestinians in East Jerusalem. Baha Fawaka, 14, and his siblings, Bayan, 12, and Ayham, 7, enjoyed their new rooms for just two months before their housing situation took a sharp turn when their father was forced to demolish their bedrooms.
“I helped my dad empty the house, we stayed until late hours in the night. I felt pain and grief over a dream that would soon be destroyed,” said Baha to Defense for Children International – Palestine.
“The two months were like a dream to me. I understood what it feels like to live in a spacious home and have my own room,” Bayan said.
The family of five lived in a 430 square foot home for five years in the Um Leson neighborhood, nestled between the Sur Baher and Jabal Mukaber villages, in East Jerusalem. This year, the family added 1,290 square feet to the house without an Israeli building permit, to afford each child a comfortable place of their own.
“The two months were like a dream to me. I understood what it feels like to live in a spacious home and have my own room,” Bayan, 12, said.
In May, armed Israeli forces and employees from the Israeli Ministry of Finance handed a demolition order for the house addition to the children’s father, Mahmoud Fawaka. The Israeli Ministry of Finance’s building regulations and enforcement department also questioned Fawaka for three hours about his reasons for the addition and the construction process.
DCIP, Ramallah, December 8, 2017--
Three siblings’ dream of having their own rooms rapidly collapsed under the strictly enforced Israeli building laws for Palestinians in East Jerusalem. Baha Fawaka, 14, and his siblings, Bayan, 12, and Ayham, 7, enjoyed their new rooms for just two months before their housing situation took a sharp turn when their father was forced to demolish their bedrooms.
“I helped my dad empty the house, we stayed until late hours in the night. I felt pain and grief over a dream that would soon be destroyed,” said Baha to Defense for Children International – Palestine.
“The two months were like a dream to me. I understood what it feels like to live in a spacious home and have my own room,” Bayan said.
The family of five lived in a 430 square foot home for five years in the Um Leson neighborhood, nestled between the Sur Baher and Jabal Mukaber villages, in East Jerusalem. This year, the family added 1,290 square feet to the house without an Israeli building permit, to afford each child a comfortable place of their own.
“The two months were like a dream to me. I understood what it feels like to live in a spacious home and have my own room,” Bayan, 12, said.
In May, armed Israeli forces and employees from the Israeli Ministry of Finance handed a demolition order for the house addition to the children’s father, Mahmoud Fawaka. The Israeli Ministry of Finance’s building regulations and enforcement department also questioned Fawaka for three hours about his reasons for the addition and the construction process.
Ayham, the youngest child in the Fawaka family, hugs his father
The family’s choice to build without a permit was anything but random. Building permits in East Jerusalem are almost impossible for Palestinians to obtain.
When Israel unilaterally annexed East Jerusalem in 1967, the majority of Palestinian areas [PDF] were left without development plans, making construction illegal under the Israeli Planning and Building Law. Today, Palestinians can apply to build in a mere 13 percent of East Jerusalem, according to United National Relief and Works Agency (UNWRA).
In this small sliver where development plans do exist, Palestinians still often avoid applying for permits due to the arduous, costly, and in many cases unsuccessful, permit process.
Applicants for building permits must complete [PDF] an application form in Hebrew, a language most Palestinians do not speak. For many, this represents a major obstacle.
A second roadblock is the application’s requirement for a document containing the landowners’ signatures. While this may sound straightforward, this document could threaten the owners’ property rights if Israeli authorities deem them “absentees” [PDF] under the broad parameters of Israel’s Absentee Property Law.
The process is also costly, with no guarantee of success at the end. In 2015, Israeli media outlet Haaretz reported that only seven percent of Jerusalem’s building permit approvals were for Palestinian neighborhoods in the city.
For all these reasons, many East Jerusalem residents roll the dice and build without permits. If caught, it’s a criminal offense under Israel’s Planning and Building Law of 1965. Unpermitted structures will be slated for demolition and the builder could be arrested.
After Fawaka’s lawyer failed to freeze the demolition order, the only choice the family had left was how the addition would be demolished.
They could either wait for Israeli authorities to carry out the demolition and send them a steep bill, or demolish it themselves.
“I feel sorry for my father. He was forced to demolish the house, he didn’t want to do it,” Bayan said.
“They told me if they demolish the house it will cost me 80,000 NIS [$22,892],” said Fawaka. Self-demolition would be a fraction of that price, about 3,000 NIS ($858), he explained.
“I feel sorry for my father. He was forced to demolish the house, he didn’t want to do it,” Bayan said.
With only seven years of life experience, Ayham still doesn’t fully understand what happened and his father is unsure how to explain the situation to him.
“He always asks me why our house was demolished, I tell him it’s because of faults with the building because he won’t understand the real reason,” said Fawaka.
The family’s choice to build without a permit was anything but random. Building permits in East Jerusalem are almost impossible for Palestinians to obtain.
When Israel unilaterally annexed East Jerusalem in 1967, the majority of Palestinian areas [PDF] were left without development plans, making construction illegal under the Israeli Planning and Building Law. Today, Palestinians can apply to build in a mere 13 percent of East Jerusalem, according to United National Relief and Works Agency (UNWRA).
In this small sliver where development plans do exist, Palestinians still often avoid applying for permits due to the arduous, costly, and in many cases unsuccessful, permit process.
Applicants for building permits must complete [PDF] an application form in Hebrew, a language most Palestinians do not speak. For many, this represents a major obstacle.
A second roadblock is the application’s requirement for a document containing the landowners’ signatures. While this may sound straightforward, this document could threaten the owners’ property rights if Israeli authorities deem them “absentees” [PDF] under the broad parameters of Israel’s Absentee Property Law.
The process is also costly, with no guarantee of success at the end. In 2015, Israeli media outlet Haaretz reported that only seven percent of Jerusalem’s building permit approvals were for Palestinian neighborhoods in the city.
For all these reasons, many East Jerusalem residents roll the dice and build without permits. If caught, it’s a criminal offense under Israel’s Planning and Building Law of 1965. Unpermitted structures will be slated for demolition and the builder could be arrested.
After Fawaka’s lawyer failed to freeze the demolition order, the only choice the family had left was how the addition would be demolished.
They could either wait for Israeli authorities to carry out the demolition and send them a steep bill, or demolish it themselves.
“I feel sorry for my father. He was forced to demolish the house, he didn’t want to do it,” Bayan said.
“They told me if they demolish the house it will cost me 80,000 NIS [$22,892],” said Fawaka. Self-demolition would be a fraction of that price, about 3,000 NIS ($858), he explained.
“I feel sorry for my father. He was forced to demolish the house, he didn’t want to do it,” Bayan said.
With only seven years of life experience, Ayham still doesn’t fully understand what happened and his father is unsure how to explain the situation to him.
“He always asks me why our house was demolished, I tell him it’s because of faults with the building because he won’t understand the real reason,” said Fawaka.
The children’s father, Mahmoud Fawaka, demolished the home addition himself, to avoid incurring the much higher cost of a demolition carried out by Israeli authorities
The discriminatory zoning plans and building laws in East Jerusalem affect many. At the beginning of the year, Jerusalem District Governor Adnan Husseini estimated that a third of Palestinian homes were under threat of demolition.
Between January 1 and October 23, Israeli carried out 76 full or partial demolitions of Palestinian structures in East Jerusalem because of permit issues, according to United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs OCHA. These demolitions displaced 192 Palestinians, including 111 children.
In 21 of these incidents, families carried out the demolitions themselves.
While Palestinian families like the Fawakaa in East Jerusalem are being forced to tear down pieces of their own homes, Israeli authorities continue to move forward with expanding housing in illegal settlements in East Jerusalem.
Expansion plans for Nof Zion settlement, located a short distance away from Um Leson in Jabal Mukkaber, are underway. If approved, 176 new building permits for Jewish-only housing will move forward in occupied East Jerusalem, in contravention of international law.
After the demolition, Baha told DCIP he moved out. “I decided to live with my relatives because I’m unable to live in this very small house. It’s unlivable, ” Baha said. “This decision was very hard.”
Bayan told DCIP she is unhappy with the current situation. She lost her room and was distanced from her brother. “It feels bad not having Baha at home. I miss him a lot,” she said.
The discriminatory zoning plans and building laws in East Jerusalem affect many. At the beginning of the year, Jerusalem District Governor Adnan Husseini estimated that a third of Palestinian homes were under threat of demolition.
Between January 1 and October 23, Israeli carried out 76 full or partial demolitions of Palestinian structures in East Jerusalem because of permit issues, according to United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs OCHA. These demolitions displaced 192 Palestinians, including 111 children.
In 21 of these incidents, families carried out the demolitions themselves.
While Palestinian families like the Fawakaa in East Jerusalem are being forced to tear down pieces of their own homes, Israeli authorities continue to move forward with expanding housing in illegal settlements in East Jerusalem.
Expansion plans for Nof Zion settlement, located a short distance away from Um Leson in Jabal Mukkaber, are underway. If approved, 176 new building permits for Jewish-only housing will move forward in occupied East Jerusalem, in contravention of international law.
After the demolition, Baha told DCIP he moved out. “I decided to live with my relatives because I’m unable to live in this very small house. It’s unlivable, ” Baha said. “This decision was very hard.”
Bayan told DCIP she is unhappy with the current situation. She lost her room and was distanced from her brother. “It feels bad not having Baha at home. I miss him a lot,” she said.
