Israel Ramps Up Demolition Of Palestinian Homes
Israel has intensified its demolition push in East Jerusalem to support development of a "Greater Jerusalem," reports Dalia Hatuqa.
As Israel’s aggressive plan to place settlers in and around East Jerusalem pushes forward, Palestinian residents are finding their communities quickly being eroded by bureaucratic policies. Home demolitions and evictions carried out by Israeli authorities are some of the most common methods that displace Palestinians. In addition to these measures, settler enclaves are being forced into the heart of Palestinian neighborhoods — such as Sheikh Jarrah, Silwan, At-Tur (Mount of Olives) and others that comprise what’s known as the "Holy Basin" — isolating them from one another and from the rest of the West Bank. Today, these neighborhoods are unable to expand or grow in a way that ensures contiguity and Palestinians living there are forced to build “illegally” because construction permits are rarely granted.
“Since 1967, no new Palestinian neighborhoods have been established; the urban master plan restricts Palestinian building to 13% of the city, much of which is already covered with chaotic, unregulated sprawl. This is despite the quadrupling of the Palestinian population, which today constitutes 36% of Jerusalem's population,” according to Robert Blecher, director of the Israel-Palestine Project at International Crisis Group.
The two neighborhoods of Beit Hanina and Beit Safafa offer a view into the Jerusalem municipal authorities’ ongoing policy to replace Palestinians with settlers. April 2012 marked the first forced eviction of a Palestinian family living in the neighborhood of Beit Hanina, located in the northern section of east Jerusalem. Until recently, residents here had been spared the evictions and demolitions used to forcibly facilitate the entry of Jewish Israeli settlers into their community. The stories told in the aftermath of these tragedies are usually very similar: Jerusalem municipality workers, backed by Israeli soldiers, seal off the area and a bulldozer makes its way toward the houses, demolishing them without much notice.
A year ago, the Natsheh family of 11 found itself on the street after their home was handed over to Israeli settlers. The legal process that paved the way for this action was kick-started by Aryeh King, a pro-settler activist and head of “The Israel Lands Fund,” which, according to its website, “strives to ensure that Jewish land is once again reclaimed and in Jewish hands.” An Israeli court ruled that the Natshehs couldn’t prove that their family owned the house before 1948. As in most previous cases of evictions carried by Israeli authorities, the Natshehs were forced to leave their house early in the morning, their belongings bundled into a moving van as the family’s male members were detained by police until the eviction was complete.
