14 October 1997

14 October 1997

On 13 October, two nearly completed homes were destroyed near Al Aroub Refugee Camp, on the main Bethlehem-Hebron road. Mahmoud Jamil Abu Riah was building these homes for his sons, Khalid and Mohammed, on lands that he owned. He applied for a building permit, which was refused by the Planning Committee for the West Bank (a committee on which sit Jewish settlers). These two homes are the first to be destroyed since the visit of US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, indicating that the Israeli military authorities are gearing up to destroy the 800 homes targeted for demolition in the West Bank, to clear Areas C of a Palestinian presence and to make way for the expansion of Jewish settlements and the construction of settler by-pass roads.

These Palestinian homes were destroyed shortly after Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu announced that the government would allow the construction of 300 new units in the illegal settlement of Efrat, south of Bethlehem and near al Aroub Camp. Again, as Israeli-Palestinian negotiations enter into a particularly tense period when confidence building measures are needed the most, the Israeli government continues to destroy Palestinian homes and limit the natural growth of Palestinian communities, while expanding the inflammatory and illegal Jewish settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

LAW condemns these demolitions in the strongest possible terms. Contact the following officials to demand an immediate halt to all house demolitions, and for the international community, especially the United States, to take appropriate actions to sanction Israel for this brutal policy: Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu (972) (2) 566 4838, Israeli Mayor of Jerusalem Ehud Olmert (972) (2) 629 7997, Minister of Foreign Affairs David Levy (972) (2) 530 3506, Defense Minister Yitzhak Mordechai (972) (3) 691 6940. Electronic mail to: Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu: pm@pmo.gov.il, the Office of the Prime Minister: feedback@pmo.gov.il, the Israeli Government Press Office: gpo@pmo.gov.il, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs: ask@israel-info.gov.il.

LAW - 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. LAW is also an affiliate member of the Paris-based International Federation for Human Rights.