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On 9 July 2001, the Jerusalem Municipality destroyed 14 buildings, containing 25 apartments,
which were under construction in Shuafat refugee camp, Jerusalem. The buildings were intended
to house approximately 122 people, and ranged in size from 120m sq to 700m sq. The total
value of each of the buildings ranged from 30,000 NIS to 250,000 NIS. Demolition notices were
delivered on Sunday, and on Monday morning 13 bulldozers accompanied by Israeli security
personnel entered the camp from the direction of the nearby settlement of Pisgat Zeev and began
to destroy the condemned structures. During the operation, which lasted for approximately seven
hours, the camp was closed. A number of protestors were reportedly beaten by police as they
sought to prevent the demolition of the properties.
Wael Bahajat Ali gave the following Affidavit to al-Haq:
On Sunday July 8, 2001 officials from the municipality came to my house with members of the
security forces and stuck a demolition notice on my home. Our house was in the last stages of
construction. The next day a large contingent of border police came to the camp and 20 persons
protested by my building in an attempt to stop the demolition. We were beaten by the police and
forced out of the way while the house was destroyed. My family consists of 35 members and we
currently live in a very small house that was provided to us by UNWRA. The Municipality
doesnt provide us with any services.
The Shuafat refugee camp is located on 35 dunums of land and has a population of
approximately 30,000 people. The number of people living in the camp has increased in recent
years, particularly after the Israeli Interior Ministry began to annul the residency rights of
Palestinian Jerusalemites who were residing outside of the city, or had resided outside of the city
for an extended period. The policy led many Palestinian Jerusalemites to returning to the city in an
attempt to secure their status. The policy ID card confiscation was formally rescinded in March
2000.
When they need to build most of the camps residents do not apply for building permits, as the
Municipality hardly ever grants them permission to build. The Jerusalem municipality destroyed
the structures in the camp on the grounds that they were built illegally. Illegal construction is
common in East Jerusalem for a number of reasons. The first reason is that the Municipality rarely
grants building permits to the Arab residents of the city. On average only 150 building permits are
granted a year to Palestinian residents. In light of the increasing population growth in the city, the
number of licenses granted falls way below the needs of the Palestinian population. The
Municipality has also curtailed the development of the Palestinian neighbourhoods through urban
planning policies. Large areas of Palestinian neighbourhoods are zoned green were construction is
strictly prohibited. The Israeli authorities very rarely construct public housing for East Jerusalems
residents, instead, construction is almost always a private endeavour in contrast with the elaborate
financial incentives which are granted to settlers in occupied east Jerusalem. The allowed density
level per dunum is lower in Palestinian neighbourhoods and the allowed construction height is
lower in comparison to Jewish settlements in East Jerusalem and housing in the western parts of
the city. If a building permit is granted to a Palestinian, it is usually for construction in already built
up areas and not in open spaces. As a result of these planning restrictions, housing shortages are
acute in East Jerusalem, which forces many residents to build without permission from the
municipality. It has been estimated that the housing shortage in East Jerusalem approaches 25,000
housing units.
Municipal Planning policies are guided by a demographic policy with the aim of reducing the
number of Palestinians residing in occupied East Jerusalem, and increasing the number of Jews in
order to better secure the illegal annexation of East Jerusalem that took place in June 1967. The
inter-ministerial committee to examine the rate of development in Jerusalem formulated this policy
in 1973. It formally set the figures of 73.5 Jews to 26.5 Palestinian as a ratio that must be either
maintained or changed in favour of the Jewish population, even if natural population growth should
have caused it to change differently. This was the population ratio for the city in its entirety in
1972. The Jewish population was to be increased, while the Palestinian population was not
intended to grow and where possible, was to be reduced. It is this demographic imperative that
guides Israels policy in Occupied East Jerusalem, and accounts for why so many Palestinians are
forced to build without permission from the municipality. Despite this policy, in recent years the
Jewish ratio in the city has decreased while the Palestinian population makes up over 30 percent
of the entire citys population.
Whenever the term illegal construction is used to describe structures erected in East Jerusalem
without municipal permission, this background must be kept in mind. It should also be
acknowledged that East Jerusalem is occupied, that the Fourth Geneva Convention Relative to
Civilian persons in time of War is applicable, and that Israel is under an obligation to ensure as the
occupying power, that the population enjoy the right to adequate housing. |