Israel drives on with Palestinian demolitions

JERUSALEM // Israel’s policy of home demolitions has accelerated in recent days, with two houses destroyed yesterday in the West Bank and another six in East Jerusalem on Tuesday. In all, Israel has demolished more than two dozen Palestinian homes since the beginning of the year, according to the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (Icahd) leaving an estimated 130 people homeless. In occupied East Jerusalem, the home demolitions policy is part of what Palestinians and activists say is a larger scheme to further the “Judaisation” of the city at the expense of its Palestinian residents.
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Mr Netanyahu – under pressure not to extend a moratorium on construction in West Bank settlements that does not include East Jerusalem and runs out in September – is keen to show his right-wing constituency that Israel answers to no one over Jerusalem. The Israeli government maintains that all of Jerusalem be Israel’s “eternal, undivided capital”. “Israel can’t give the impression that it is vulnerable to pressure,” said Jeff Halper of Icahd.

He stressed that when the US reaction to house demolitions was to issue a mild verbal rebuke – on Tuesday the US State Department called them “not helpful” – it amounted to “a green light”. As for the people left homeless, “who cares about them”, said Mr Halper. “They are the least of the considerations.”
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The Israeli authorities say the house was demolished because it was built without a permit, a fact Mrs al Rajabi does not dispute. That the demolition of homes in occupied territory is considered illegal under international law does not appear to figure in Israeli calculations. Israel unilaterally annexed East Jerusalem after occupying it in 1967, an annexation not recognised by any country. The al Rajabis had tried to get a permit, but the cost and time involved rendered such an endeavour prohibitive, Mrs al Rajabi said, and makes it all but impossible for Palestinians in general to be able to afford to build legal housing.
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“The Israelis want us out,” said Mrs al Rajabi. “We have no rights in the city, and there is no justice for us because we are Palestinian.”

From: http://www.thenational.ae/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100715/FOREIGN/707159846/1041/sport

Shomron Regional Council Head Gershon Mesika noted, "This isn't Barak. It’s Netanyahu. He's the one behind the useless and despicable demolition of a house built by a young couple who spent all their savings on it, while hundreds of illegal Arab houses are being built in the neighboring villages. We shall rebuild the house."

Israel has demolished more than 20,000 Palestinian homes in occupied East Jerusalem since 1967.

And some residents have had their houses torn down multiple times.

Al Jazeera's Jacky Rowland reports from occupied East Jerusalem on how a small group of Israeli and international activists are helping rebuild Palestinian homes that have been repeatedly demolished.