27 October 1997

On Sunday 26 October, LAW submitted a petition to the Israeli High Court to stop the demolition of the homes of the four families of alleged suicide bombers. The Israeli military ordered the demolition of these homes based on the Emergency Law of 1945, and argued that the alleged bombers had lived in the homes just before committing the bombing. The Military Court rejected the first appeal, submitted by LAW, and confirmed the demolitions but stated that two homes would be only partially sealed.

The families are:
· Jamil Ashouliya, house to be totally demolished, second floor rented to doctor and family
· Mohammed Sawalha, 87 years old, home to be both partially demolished and sealed
· Ali Yassin, 70 years old, home to be demolished
· Mohammed Jarara’, home to be partially sealed. Engineer reports state that the home cannot sustain the cement used in a sealing, and irreparable damage would be done to the entire structure.

The destruction of these homes would make homeless over 40 people, including elderly parents over the age of 70 and several babies less than a year old. One of these homes has a store on the ground floor, and is the only source of income for the family.

These homes have orders for demolition for “security and deterrent” reasons, to punish the families and to destroy the homes where the attacks were allegedly planned. In all four of these cases, the young men in question had not lived at these homes for nearly two years. They were arrested by the Palestinian police in winter of 1995, escaped in early spring 1996 and have been in hiding since. They could not have planned or discussed any attacks from these homes. The families in question do not believe their sons were involved, condemn entirely the attacks, and have received no evidence that their sons were in fact involved, including the fact that they have been denied permission to identify the bodies of the bombers.

In one case, the second floor of the house is rented to a doctor and his family, who are unrelated to the family. They too will suffer the loss of their home.

LAW condemns the demolition of these homes as a collective punishment, and thus as a violation of international law and the internationally-recognized right to shelter. The destruction of the homes of the families of alleged suicide bombers punishes only the innocent. There has never been, at any time, evidence that the destruction of the homes of the families of alleged bombers deters attacks. It does, however, impose extreme hardship for the families, and breeds resentment and despair.

LAW requests all those who condemn this kind of collective punishment to fax immediately the following, demanding that the demolitions not be carried out and requesting a reconsideration of this particularly brutal policy: Israeli Prime Minister (972) (2) 566 4838, 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, and the Israeli Government Press Office: gpo@pmo.gov.il, The Ministry of Foreign Affairs: ask@israel-info.gov.il.