PALESTINIAN HOMES UNDER ATTACK

WHILE JEWISH SETTLEMENTS STRENGTHENED

14 August 1996

House Demolition

In Jerusalem and in the West Bank, nine Palestinian homes have been destroyed in the past week.

• On 6 August, Israeli bulldozers destroyed the home of Idris Pasmool al Mutour, displacing his 14 member family, in Beit Anoon village near Hebron. Four neighboring homes in the area are also in danger of demolition to make way for a Jewish-only by-pass road.
• On 12 August, six homes were demolished. One house in Hizma was demolished, in the Jerusalem municipality, for not having an (extremely difficult to obtain) building permit. Two homes in Anata and Jaba' villages (near northern Jerusalem and in Area C of the West Bank) were destroyed to make way for the Jewish-only by-pass road that will go from Ramallah to the northern Jerusalem settlement of Pisgat Ze'ev. And three homes were destroyed in Kufur Aqab, near Ramallah in Area C of the West Bank.
• On 13 August, Israeli bulldozers destroyed two houses in al Issawiyeh village, in the Jerusalem municipality, on the pretext that they were built without a building permit.

Settlement Expansion

Following on the heels of this renewed aggression on Palestinian homes and against Palestinian residents of Area C of the West Bank and Jerusalem, the Israeli government has announced a series of measures designed to reinforce, strengthen and expand existing Jewish settlements in Jerusalem and the West Bank.

• On 13 August, Israeli Interior Minister Eli Suissa announced the transfer of $4.8 million to the settlements for "Oslo-related" expenses. He also pledged at the same time to speed up [Jewish] planning and construction in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
• On the same day, it was confirmed by the Prime Minister's Office that settlements had received permission to install 300 new caravans in various settlements in the West Bank (the installation of new caravans is a common method for expanding and taking over new Palestinian lands for settlements and represents government endorsement for settlement expansion).
• The Prime Minister's office also confirmed that it will permit the 3000 recently completed apartment units throughout the West Bank to be inhabited.

At a time when confidence has sunk to a low in the ongoing Oslo process, the double-standard of Israeli policy in the Occupied West Bank and in Jerusalem further destabilizes the situation in the area. The Israeli policy of the destruction of Palestinian homes and clearing areas of an Arab presence, while at the same time funding and strengthening the illegal Jewish presence in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, highlights more clearly than anything else the aim of the current Israeli administration to limit the Palestinian population to tiny reservation-style areas and to maintain control over the 70% of the West Bank in and around settlements.

LAWE - The Palestinian Society for the Protection of Human Rights and the Environment calls on all interested parties in a just solution in this area to fax your condemnations of these Israeli policies to: Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu (972) (2) 566 4838, Interior Minister Eli Suissa (972) (2) 709628, and the General Commander of the Occupied Territories Uzi Dayan (972) (2) 530 533.

LAWE - The Palestinian Society for the Protection of Human Rights and the Environment is a non-governmental organization, dedicated to preserving human rights through legal advocacy. LAWE is also an affiliate member of the Paris-based International Federation for Human Rights.