Amnesty Press release re Israeli demolitions of palestinians homes
fuckindisgusted | 18.05.2004 06:08 | Anti-racism
Israel and the Occupied Territories: Evictions and demolitions must stop
Israel's unjustified destruction of thousands of Palestinian and Arab Israeli homes as well as vast areas of agricultural land has reached an unprecedented level and must stop immediately, Amnesty International said today. Over the last three and a half years, Israeli armed forces have demolished more than 3,000 homes, leaving tens of thousands of men, women and children homeless or without a livelihood.
Israel's unjustified destruction of thousands of Palestinian and Arab Israeli homes as well as vast areas of agricultural land has reached an unprecedented level and must stop immediately, Amnesty International said today. Over the last three and a half years, Israeli armed forces have demolished more than 3,000 homes, leaving tens of thousands of men, women and children homeless or without a livelihood.
AI INDEX: MDE 15/050/2004 18 May 2004
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
PRESS RELEASE
http://news.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGMDE150502004
AI Index: MDE 15/050/2004 (Public)
News Service No: 119
18 May 2004
Embargo Date: 18 May 2004 00:01 GMT
Israel and the Occupied Territories: Evictions and demolitions must stop
Israel's unjustified destruction of thousands of Palestinian and Arab Israeli homes as well as vast areas of agricultural land has reached an unprecedented level and must stop immediately, Amnesty International said today.
Over the last three and a half years, Israeli armed forces have demolished more than 3,000 homes, leaving tens of thousands of men, women and children homeless or without a livelihood.
In a report released today -- Israel and the Occupied Territories. Under the rubble: House demolition and destruction of land and property -- Amnesty International said:
"The grounds invoked by Israel to justify the destruction are overly broad and based on discriminatory policies and practices."
"The authorities gave us different justifications for refusing us the building permit...Each time we succeeded to challenge or disprove the reason they had given us for the refusal, our application was rejected on different grounds. We spent thousands of dollars on this process. In the end we understood that it was hopeless and we built our home without a permit."
The home of Salim and 'Arabia Shawamreh in the village of 'Anata has been demolished four times and is now again under threat.
According to the United Nations, more than 2,000 homes in Gaza have been destroyed in the last three years and 10 percent of the agricultural land. In the West Bank, almost 90% of Israel's fence/wall is being built on occupied territory and at least 600 homes have been destroyed.
In the Occupied Territories, demolitions are often carried out as collective punishments for Palestinian attacks or to facilitate the expansion of illegal Israeli settlements. Both practices contravene international law and some of these acts are war crimes.
Discriminatory planning and building policies make it practically impossible for Israeli Arabs and Palestinians to obtain building permits.
In Israel, the demolition of homes for lack of building permits in the Arab sector is a recurrent phenomenon, whereas demolition of homes without building permission in the Jewish sector is almost unheard of.
Forced evictions and house demolitions are usually carried out without warning with families given little or no time to leave their homes and salvage their possessions.
Most cases of house demolition and destruction of land are not subject to legal supervision or appeal.
Amnesty International is calling on Israel to halt all unlawful destruction of homes and land, including for the expansion of Israeli settlements and/or for the building of the fence/wall in the Occupied Territories.
The Palestinian Authority is called upon to take measures to prevent attacks by Palestinian armed groups on Israeli civilians.
Amnesty International is also pressing for other States, particularly the US, to stop the sale or transfer of weaponry and equipment that are used to commit unlawful destruction of homes and other human rights violations..
For a copy of the executive summary of the report, Israel and the Occupied Territories. Under the rubble: House demolition and destruction of land and property please go to: http://web.amnesty.org/library/index/engmde150402004
For a copy of the full report, Israel and the Occupied Territories. Under the rubble: House demolition and destruction of land and property please go to: http://web.amnesty.org/library/index/engmde150332004
Public Document
****************************************
For more information please call Amnesty International's press office in London, UK, on +44 20 7413 5566
Amnesty International, 1 Easton St., London WC1X 0DW. web: http://www.amnesty.org
For latest human rights news view http://news.amnesty.org
E-mail this page
Printer friendly
Back to Top ^^
AI INDEX: MDE 15/050/2004 18 May 2004
Related Documents
(MDE 15/033/2004) Israel and the Occupied Territories: Under the rubble: House demolition and destruction of land and property
(MDE 15/040/2004) Israel and the Occupied Territories: Under the rubble:House demolition and destruction of land and property. Executive Summary
(MDE 15/049/2004) Israel/Occupied Territories: AI condemns murder of woman and her four daughters by Palestinian gunmen
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AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
PRESS RELEASE
http://news.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGMDE150502004 AI Index: MDE 15/050/2004 (Public)
News Service No: 119
18 May 2004
Embargo Date: 18 May 2004 00:01 GMT
Israel and the Occupied Territories: Evictions and demolitions must stop
Israel's unjustified destruction of thousands of Palestinian and Arab Israeli homes as well as vast areas of agricultural land has reached an unprecedented level and must stop immediately, Amnesty International said today.
Over the last three and a half years, Israeli armed forces have demolished more than 3,000 homes, leaving tens of thousands of men, women and children homeless or without a livelihood.
In a report released today -- Israel and the Occupied Territories. Under the rubble: House demolition and destruction of land and property -- Amnesty International said:
"The grounds invoked by Israel to justify the destruction are overly broad and based on discriminatory policies and practices."
"The authorities gave us different justifications for refusing us the building permit...Each time we succeeded to challenge or disprove the reason they had given us for the refusal, our application was rejected on different grounds. We spent thousands of dollars on this process. In the end we understood that it was hopeless and we built our home without a permit."
The home of Salim and 'Arabia Shawamreh in the village of 'Anata has been demolished four times and is now again under threat.
According to the United Nations, more than 2,000 homes in Gaza have been destroyed in the last three years and 10 percent of the agricultural land. In the West Bank, almost 90% of Israel's fence/wall is being built on occupied territory and at least 600 homes have been destroyed.
In the Occupied Territories, demolitions are often carried out as collective punishments for Palestinian attacks or to facilitate the expansion of illegal Israeli settlements. Both practices contravene international law and some of these acts are war crimes.
Discriminatory planning and building policies make it practically impossible for Israeli Arabs and Palestinians to obtain building permits.
In Israel, the demolition of homes for lack of building permits in the Arab sector is a recurrent phenomenon, whereas demolition of homes without building permission in the Jewish sector is almost unheard of.
Forced evictions and house demolitions are usually carried out without warning with families given little or no time to leave their homes and salvage their possessions.
Most cases of house demolition and destruction of land are not subject to legal supervision or appeal.
Amnesty International is calling on Israel to halt all unlawful destruction of homes and land, including for the expansion of Israeli settlements and/or for the building of the fence/wall in the Occupied Territories.
The Palestinian Authority is called upon to take measures to prevent attacks by Palestinian armed groups on Israeli civilians.
Amnesty International is also pressing for other States, particularly the US, to stop the sale or transfer of weaponry and equipment that are used to commit unlawful destruction of homes and other human rights violations..
For a copy of the executive summary of the report, Israel and the Occupied Territories. Under the rubble: House demolition and destruction of land and property please go to:
http://web.amnesty.org/library/index/engmde150402004 For a copy of the full report, Israel and the Occupied Territories. Under the rubble: House demolition and destruction of land and property please go to:
http://web.amnesty.org/library/index/engmde150332004 Public Document
****************************************
For more information please call Amnesty International's press office in London, UK, on +44 20 7413 5566
Amnesty International, 1 Easton St., London WC1X 0DW. web:
http://www.amnesty.org For latest human rights news view
http://news.amnesty.org E-mail this page
Printer friendly
Back to Top ^^
AI INDEX: MDE 15/050/2004 18 May 2004
Related Documents
(MDE 15/033/2004) Israel and the Occupied Territories: Under the rubble: House demolition and destruction of land and property
(MDE 15/040/2004) Israel and the Occupied Territories: Under the rubble:House demolition and destruction of land and property. Executive Summary
(MDE 15/049/2004) Israel/Occupied Territories: AI condemns murder of woman and her four daughters by Palestinian gunmen
(MDE 15/048/2004) Israel/OT: Open letter to President George W. Bush
(MDE 15/041/2004) Israel/Occupied Territories: No restrictions or conditions must be imposed on Mordechai Vanunu upon his release
(MDE 15/036/2004) Israel/Occupied Territories: Israel must facilitate, not hinder, relief for the occupied population
fuckindisgusted
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http://news.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGMDE150502004
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Act Now: Rafah in Crisis
18.05.2004 08:38
UPDATE FROM THE
ELECTRONIC INTIFADA
17 May 2004 -- 4:30PM CST
_______________________________
Action Items
SPEAK OUT NOW FOR RAFAH
Mike F. Brown, The Electronic Intifada, 17 May 2004
The American news media have been largely eyeless in Gaza
(though Molly Moore did write a moving though haunting
piece about Rafah for the Washington Post of May 16).
According to UNRWA 1,100 Palestinians were made homeless
in the first 10 days of May. Has that appeared in your
local newspaper? Can you imagine the hue and cry if
Palestinians somehow had the capacity to force 1,100
Israelis out of their homes in Ashkelon just a touch north
of Gaza? The story would lead the newspapers - as it
should - even if Palestinians said they were simply moving
back to the land they were pushed out of more than 50
years ago. The point to make to the newspapers, and to
CNN, is that both Israeli and Palestinian suffering should
be covered. All too often, Palestinian casualties are
ignored or downplayed.
Human Rights
PALESTINE: LEGITIMATE ARMED RESISTANCE VS. TERRORISM
John Sigler, The Electronic Intifada, 17 May 2004
The Israeli, and pro-Israeli, media have made a great deal
of noise about the recent Palestinian operations in the
occupied Gaza Strip whereby eleven Israeli soldiers were
killed in two separate attacks on armored personnel
carriers. With very few exceptions in the Israeli and
pro-Israeli media these operations have been deliberately
misrepresented as some sort of "terrorist" attacks, a
cynical propaganda ploy designed to discredit the
Palestinian legal right to resist occupation. While there
is no universally accepted definition of precisely what
constitutes "terrorism", there are particular factors that
are generally accepted in most definitions as constituent
elements of "terrorism".
Human Rights
THE RULE OF LAW ENDS AT THE BORDER
B'Tselem, Report, 16 May 2004
This morning's ruling of Israel's High Court of Justice
allows the IDF to continue its mass house demolitions in
Rafah, and gives the IDF full discretion as to when to
allow a court hearing prior to demolition. In issuing this
ruling, the Court has shirked its obligation to balance
security considerations with the rights of Palestinian
civilians who are not involved in the hostilities. When
addressing events in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, the
Court consistently disregards its obligations regarding
human rights and international law, and uncritically
adopts the position of the security establishment.
B'Tselem responds to the High Court decision.
Development
UNRWA: ALARMED AT DEMOLITIONS
UNRWA, Report, 16 May 2004
The UN refugee agency UNRWA has issued a call to the
Israeli military to halt its demolition operations in
Rafah in the Gaza Strip where 12,600 people are now
homeless. UNRWA has opened a school to house the latest
victims of the destruction and is distributing tents,
food, water, kitchen kits, mattresses and blankets. UNRWA
estimates that it will now cost $32 million to re-house
the 18,382 people who have lost their homes across the
Gaza Strip. Peter Hansen, UNRWA's Commissioner-General
said: "We are extremely alarmed that even more demolitions
are planned. Already huge swathes of Rafah have been
flattened, to the extent that some families have
experienced the trauma of demolition more than once."
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appalled
BBC / Q&A: Israel's house demolition policy
18.05.2004 08:48
May 2004 has been called one of the most destructive periods in the Gaza Strip since the start of the current Palestinian uprising, or intifada, in September 2000.
With demolitions set to increase now that Israel's Supreme Court has backed current army operations in the Rafah area, BBC News Online looks at the policy of demolition and what Israel hopes to gain from it.
Is the demolition policy new?
No. Demolitions occur with regularity, but rarely with such intensity.
Demolition: A daily business in the Gaza Strip
In the Gaza Strip alone, more than 18,000 Palestinians have lost their homes since the start of the intifada, according to figures supplied by the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (Unrwa).
The majority are in the densely-populated southern Rafah area near the Egyptian border, where Israeli army posts are located.
However, demolitions have also occurred in other areas of the Gaza Strip, where more than 7,000 settlers live among some 1.3m Palestinians.
What is the scale of the current wave of demolitions?
In the first half of May, Unrwa relief teams report that 2,197 were made homeless with the demolition of 191 homes throughout the Gaza Strip.
Rafah was the worst affected area, the organisation says, with 1,064 newly homeless people added in two days to more than 11,000 who had already lost their homes.
However, the Israeli army - which has in the past described figures supplied by Unrwa as highly exaggerated - says no more than 40 houses were demolished.
What happens to the families?
Unrwa - which describes itself as the biggest humanitarian operation in occupied Palestinian territory - tries to help with the immediate needs of those made homeless, and builds shelters for some families.
However, its resources "are unable to meet the growing humanitarian crisis faced by those without shelter," it says.
What do the Israelis say?
The Israeli army maintains that the demolitions are not arbitrary. It says the targeted houses serve as positions for gunmen and exit points for tunnels used to smuggle weapons from Egypt.
It says its troops have been attacked from the buildings and that the demolitions are thus a legitimate act of self-defence - an immediate military necessity to defend soldiers' lives.
Rafah residents now face the prospect of hundreds more demolitions under Israeli plans to widen the corridor of land the army controls between Rafah and the nearby Egyptian border.
More attacks are reportedly launched on Israeli forces there than anywhere else in the Palestinian territories.
Observers say the new plan seems designed to counter critics who accuse the army of leaving its forces vulnerable in the "Philadelphi Road" buffer zone, which is some 50 metres wide.
The intifada has also seen a renewal of Israel's policy of demolishing the homes of Palestinians suspected of carrying out attacks in Israel, rendering members of their families homeless.
Demolitions have also been carried out for administrative reasons, when Israel says houses in the West Bank have been built without permits.
What do the Palestinians say?
Palestinians are angry at the loss of lives and the destruction of homes and communities.
They see the demolitions as collective punishment after the recent deaths of 13 Israeli soldiers there, as well as a strategic attempt to drive them out of areas near the border.
Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat called the destruction of homes a "cruel continuation" of Israeli military actions against the Palestinian people.
Palestinian anger and derision greeted the Israeli Supreme Court ruling.
A spokesman for campaigners who brought the action said the ruling was a further example of the Israeli justice system providing what he described as cover for the crimes of an army of occupation.
Unrwa's Commissioner General Peter Hansen says the "overwhelming majority" of the thousands who have lost their homes in Gaza "have been guilty of nothing more than being in the wrong place at the wrong time."
What is the international reaction?
The demolitions have been accompanied by a chorus of disapproval from abroad.
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan called for an immediate halt to such actions "which are tantamount to collective punishment and a clear violation of international law."
EU officials have also criticised the destruction.
US Secretary of State Colin Powell - at a news conference in Jordan - criticised the destruction of homes in Rafah, while broadly supporting Israel's right to self-defence.
Mamma mia !