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      NewsAnalysisVideoAll PostsVoicesNatasha RothSamah SalaimeActivestills Amjad IraqiHaggai MatarMairav ZonszeinRami YounisNoam SheizafOrly NoyMichael Omer-ManDahlia ScheindlinEdo KonradLisa GoldmanYuval Ben-AmiMya GuarnieriDimi ReiderAmi KaufmanSawsan Khalife'Samer Badawi HaoketsSocial TVAziz Abu SarahNoa YachotOmar H. RahmanRoi MaorYossi GurvitzRoee RuttenbergCafe Gibraltar+972 Blog+972 ResourcesTalia KrevskyOfer LuftAbout                          (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});       By +972 Blog |Published April 14, 2016  Jerusalem demolishes Palestinian homes beyond the wall for first time    Israeli authorities destroy three homes in al-Walaje, a village that was partially annexed to Jerusalem, yet has been totally neglected by the municipality.

 By Aviv Tatarsky

 Residents of al-Walaje survey the destruction following the demolition of three homes in the village overnight on Tuesday, April 12, 2016.

 Israeli authorities demolished three homes in the Palestinian village of al-Walaja on Tuesday. Bulldozers accompanied by Israeli soldiers raided the village at approximately 4 a.m. and began demolishing a home with two units that have yet to be occupied, a family home of five, and a home of Mahmoud, a young man who just got engaged.

 Related stories  Palestinians protest surge in home demolitions by Israeli army  By Activestills | April 9, 2016     IDF admits discriminating against Palestinians in home demolitions  By Michael Schaeffer Omer-Man | April 6, 2016     The tragic resilience of Israel’s unrecognized Arab villages  By Amjad Iraqi | March 30, 2016     PHOTOS: IDF demolishes Palestinian homes in occupied Jordan Valley  By Activestills | March 23, 2016     The demolitions in the village are part of a larger wave of home demolitions across the West Bank over the last months, including in Khirbet Tana, Umm al-Khir, the Bedouin communities between Jerusalem and the settlement of Ma’ale Adumim, and more.

 Hundreds of people have lost their homes and entire communities are in danger of expulsion. Settler groups such as Regavim, along with people such as MK Moti Yogev (Jewish Home) have been putting pressure on the authorities to carry out the demolitions, whose entire purpose is to expel Palestinians from Area C of the West Bank, under full Israeli civil and military control. The Jewish Home party’s formal plan is to annex Area C to Israel, leaving the rest of the Palestinians imprisoned in Areas A and B.

 From the first day we came to stand alongside al-Walaja, the residents of the village have told us: “Israel doesn’t want us here, the state is trying to remove us.”

 The demolitions in al-Walaja may have far-reaching consequences, beyond the three the homes that were destroyed. Ever since the beginning of the construction of the separation wall, which has disconnected the village from Jerusalem — and despite the fact that nearly a third of the village was annexed to and is considered part of Jerusalem’s municipal jurisdiction — Israel refrained from demolition homes there. In North Jerusalem, too, there are eight Palestinian villages — where over 100,000 East Jerusalemites live — that were disconnected from the city by the separation wall. The municipality stopped demolishing houses in every single village left behind the wall — a cold comfort when considering the total neglect of these neighborhoods.

 The sight of a demolished home is a horrible thing. It is difficult to see a family that, just moments ago, lost their house. I visited Mahmoud’s family a day after the demolition. His father, Maher, spoke with a measured, soft voice, showing us the couches crushed under the rubble of the destruction, as he calmly explained what happened. The young men, Mahmoud’s friends, spoke briefly and were even friendly to the Israelis whose army destroyed their friends’ home that very morning. Mahmoud himself was broken. He sat inside and barely uttered a word.

 The separation wall being built in al-Walaja, December 7, 2010. Once completed, the wall will completely surround the village. (Photo by Anne Paq/Activestills.org)

 Mahmoud, who is in his early 20s, is an energetic and optimistic person. He has initiative and is happy with his job as a chef in Bethlehem, and is planning on opening his own restaurant. When considering how futile life feels in Walaje, and the number of restrictions his family members have faced, Mahmoud’s spirit is not to be taken for granted. So here, Israel showed him just how futile it is for a Palestinian to imagine a life of normalcy.

 There are those who will say that the demolitions happened in accordance with the law, and that the criminals have no right to complain. But the fact is that Israel created a reality in which the people of al-Walaja have no way of building legally. Despite the annexation to Jerusalem, the municipality has never once produced a master plan for the village, which prevents its residents from obtaining building permits.

 The municipality rejected a master plan presented by the residents, along with Israeli NGO Bimkom and architect Claude Rosenkowitz. On the other hand, the state approved building in the adjacent Israeli settlement, Har Gilo, as well as the Jerusalem neighborhood of Gilo. Parts of both Har Gilo and Gilo are built on al-Walaja’s land. In the village, however, building is not allowed. Neither Jerusalem municipality nor the state itself has ever provided services or invested a single shekel in the annexed village, whether on paving roads, schools, family health centers, or trash clean-up.

 Palestinians march toward the Green Line in a Nakba Day protest in the West Bank village of Al Walaja, May 15, 2014.

 Moreover, it turns out that the demolition of Mahmoud’s home was done illegally (we do not know if the same goes for the other two homes that were demolished): building inspectors submitted a demolition order before midnight of last Sunday. The following morning the family spoke to a lawyer who rushed to the court and successfully obtained a court-ordered delay until the end of proceedings. Regardless, 30 hours after the inspectors gave the warning, bulldozers demolished the family home while flagrantly ignoring the court.

 It is difficult to stand before the destructive force of the state. Despair is a privilege that we must not allow ourselves. There is always something we can do: work together with village residents, re-build what has been destroyed, create and sustain human ties. Those who cannot make it to the village can tell friends, organize events, donate to human rights organizations, or any small gesture to bring about a political change that is so necessary.

 Aviv Tatarsky is a researcher with Ir Amim. A version of this article was first published in Hebrew on Local Call. Read it here.

  

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   Please enter a valid e-mail Please enter a name     COMMENTS     Ben ThursdayApril 14, 2016     This is apartheid. Only external pressure will change anything. Voices like +972 might as well be in English only not Hebrew because they are simply not listened to inside Israel, are essentially irrelevant inside Israel. But not outside. Those who are against boycotts neglect to admit that the Israelis boycott the Palestinians every single day. 

 Ze’ev Sternhell: 

 “…A radical change will not happen here as long as the present regime does not bring about a major national crisis…. Therefore, the realistic alternative lies in external intervention that will be massive enough to shake Israelis out of the placidity of their comfortable lives. Only when everyone among us can feel the price of the occupation in their flesh, will the end to blue-and-white colonialism and apartheid come. Only when the economy is hit in a way that affects the overall standard of living, or when security is undermined as a result of a serious threat to American interests in the region, will the real treatment for eliminating the occupation and guaranteeing our future begin.” http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/.premium-1.639787

    Reply to Comment         Felixio FridayApril 15, 2016     And this, are the descendants of Abraham?? the pious and god’s servant??. No, this are some of the worst offspring that the human race can produce.

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