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Israel's home demolitions fail to deter violence

Local and international human rights groups have criticized Israel’s policy of demolishing Palestinian homes as a war crime and collective punishment.
Palestinian girls, relatives of Abdel-Rahman Shaloudi stand on a staircase near his destroyed home in the East Jerusalem neighbourhood of Silwan November 19, 2014. Israel on Wednesday destroyed the home of a Palestinian, Shaloudi, who last month ran over and killed two people at a Jerusalem tram stop, a day after two militants killed four rabbis and a policeman at a synagogue in the city. REUTERS/Ammar Awad (JERUSALEM - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY) - RTR4EPAJ

JERUSALEM — “This was the kitchen, over here was my daughter’s room, and this was the room Muataz used to share with his brother,” Shadyaa Hijazi said, as we stand in her emptied family home in Abu Tor, East Jerusalem. The Hijazis were issued a demolition order on Nov. 19 and moved all their belongings and furniture to another apartment in the same building, owned by their extended family. Two decorative streamers hanging from the ceiling in one of the bedrooms look odd in the otherwise empty space.

A month ago, Muataz Hijazi was accused of the attempted murder of right-wing activist Yehuda Glick. A few hours later, he was shot dead by police on the roof of his home. The family has always denied he was responsible for the attack. “Even if he was, they should have proved it in court. Instead, they shot him 20 times,” Ibrahim Hijazi, his father, said in an interview with Al-Monitor. Muataz had spent 11½ years in prison for arson and for attacking a prison guard, with long spells in solitary confinement.

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