Skip to main content

60,000 Palestinians to be "cleansed" from Jerusalem

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)-- Sixty Thousand Palestinians living in occupied Jerusalem are at risk of their homes being demolished by Israeli occupation authorities according to a report by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

The report notes that since the occupation of east Jerusalem by Israel in 1967 it has illegally annexed it, restricted Palestinian development and confiscated over one third of its area in favour of building Israeli settlements in violation of international humanitarian law.

The report further states that "Only 13 percent of the annexed area is currently zoned by the Israeli authorities for Palestinian construction, within which Palestinians have the possibility of obtaining a building permit," and note that much of these areas are already built-up and obtaining a permit is complicated and expensive.

Thus Palestinians are forced to build "on their land without a permit in order to meet their housing needs," the report said emphasizing that "At least 28 percent of all Palestinian homes in East Jerusalem have been built in violation of Israeli zoning requirements," which puts some 60,000 Palestinians in east Jerusalem at risk of their homes being demolished.

"According to official statistics, between 2000 and 2008 alone, the Israeli authorities demolished more than 670 Palestinian-owned structures in East Jerusalem due to lack of permit. Of these, approximately 90 structures were demolished in 2008, displacing some 400 Palestinians," according to the report.

Concern is expressed in the report about areas which face mass demolitions such as "Tel al Foul area in Beit Hanina, Khalet el 'Ein in At Tur, Al Abbasiya in Ath Thuri, and Wadi Yasul between Jabal al Mukabbir and Ath Thuri," which "affect a combined total of more than 3,600 persons."

The report further states that this policy goes beyond east Jerusalem to include (Area C) in which Palestinian construction is severely limited.

Finally the report calls on the Israeli occupation authority to "freeze all pending demolition orders and undertake planning that will address the Palestinian housing crisis in East Jerusalem," in addition to calling for supporting families whose homes were demolished and Palestinian communities attempting to challenge the Israeli occupation. 

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

'Coronavirus-free' Gaza prepares for the worst

Until now, the besieged Gaza Strip has stayed free of  the novel coronavirus  spreading across the world. As the Gaza Strip has been under a stringent Israeli-led blockade for nearly 13 years, the spread of the coronavirus - officially known as COVID-19 - has become the topic of discussion for many Palestinians, with  some joking  that the blockade was preventing them from being exposed.But as authorities in the coastal Palestinian enclave gear up to contain any potential outbreak, serious questions have arisen about the risks and implications of such a scenario.  But given its already difficult humanitarian situation and high population density, an outbreak in the Gaza Strip could prove to be catastrophic, health officials have warned.  "If the virus enters Gaza and spreads, it will get out of hand," Gaza Ministry of Health spokesperson Majdi Thuhair told Middle East Eye, as he explained that a severe shortage of resources and personnel would make it near impossible

Boycott of New York diamond dealer launched to protest settlement construction

Members of Adalah NY call for boycott of Leviev for its crimes against Palestinians and South Africans New York, NY, May 9 – On the day before Mother’s Day, 40 New York human rights advocates gathered at the Leviev jewelry store on Madison Avenue and called on throngs of weekend Madison Avenue shoppers to boycott Israeli diamond mogul Lev Leviev over his companies’ construction of Israeli settlements on Palestinian land in West Bank villages including Bil’in and Jayyous. Mother’s Day is one of the biggest jewelry shopping periods in the US annually. The New York protest came as controversy is growing in Norway over Norwegian government investments in Leviev’s company Africa-Israel . The New York protesters also commemorated Bassem Abu Rahma from Bil’in who was shot to death by Israeli soldiers last month during a peaceful protest against the construction on Bil’in’s land of Israel’s wall and of the Mattityahu East settlement by a Leviev company. Thanks to vivapalestina.us (not co

Support striking Palestinian quarry workers demanding their rights from Israeli employer

On 16 June, 35 Palestinian workers at Salit Quarries in Mishor Adumim (in area C, east of Jerusalem, in the Occupied West Bank) began a strike. The workers, organized with the independent union WAC-Ma'an, are demanding an end to exploitation and humiliation, and insist on signing a first collective agreement. Salit Quarries’ main customer is Readymix Industries (Israel). The total reliance of Salit Quarry on Readymix as their biggest and by far the most important customer puts responsibility on Readymix to make sure that their clients abides by labour laws and safeguards elementary rights for the workers of Salit. We call upon Readymix to urge the Salit management to terminate this unnecessary strike by signing the collective agreement with the workers and WAC-Ma’an. Click this protest link to send your message. The text of the message is as follows: I write to you to express my grave concern about the failure of Salit management to sign a collective agreement with the workers of