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Al-Walaja (Photo Credit: UNWRA)

Israeli demolition of playground in Zaatara

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

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)
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BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- Israeli forces on Tuesday demolished three Palestinian homes in the occupied West Bank village of al-Walaja and a children’s park near Nablus amid a mass escalation in demolitions across the occupied area this year.

A PA official who monitors settlement activity in the northern West Bank, Ghassan Daghlas, told Ma’an that Israeli bulldozers razed a children’s park in Zaatara south of Nablus.

The Israeli authorities gave no prior notice before demolishing the park, which was built last year with around $60,000 donated by Belgium via the Municipal Developing and Lending Fund, Daghlas said.

Locals told Ma’an that bulldozers escorted by Israeli military forces also raided the Ein al-Jweizeh area in northern al-Walaja near Bethlehem, demolishing three homes that were still under construction.

The homeowners -- al-Walaja residents Maher Abu Khyara, Issa Qintar and Obeida al-Muhtasib -- were reportedly told that the demolitions were carried out due to lack of proper building permits.

Locals said Israeli military forces had raided the village several days prior to take photos of a number of homes and deliver demolition orders to their owners.

A spokesperson for Israel's Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) had no information on the demolitions, and the Israeli army told Ma'an they were looking into the reports.

The demolitions mark the most recent to take place amid an intensified demolition campaign on Palestinian homes and structures across the occupied Palestinian territory this year.

Over 800 Palestinians have now been displaced since the start of 2016 due to the demolition of more than 500 structures in the occupied West Bank by the Israeli authorities, according to UN figures.

The majority have been carried out in Area C -- under full jurisdiction of the Israeli military -- where nearly 100 percent of Palestinian applications for building permits are denied by the Israeli authorities.

Last week an estimated 124 Palestinians were displaced in a single day from nine different communities, including the village of Khirbet Tana which has been destroyed four times over since the start of the year.

Residents of al-Walaja where Tuesday’s demolitions took place have lost over three-quarters of their land since Israel was established in 1948.

Israel’s separation wall encircles al-Walaja, and swathes of land have been reappropriated by the Israeli government for the construction and expansion of the illegal Israeli settlements of Gilo, Har Gilo, and Givat Yael. The government has also planned to confiscate hundreds of acres from al-Walaja for the establishment of a national park.

The record-high number demolitions this year comes as the Palestinian Authority is expected to present a draft resolution condemning Israeli settlements to the UN Security Council in New York in two weeks.

Despite repeated condemnations by the international community, Israel has come under little actual pressure to halt its settlement program, land seizures, or the forced displacement of Palestinian communities.
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By Aviv Tatarsky for 972Mag
Published 4/14/2016

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.