20 January 1994

The Land and Water Establishment for Studies and Legal Services is a non-profit organization, which was founded in July 1990 by a group of lawyers interested in combating the problems of land confiscation, house demolition, tree uprooting and environmental losses that are part of the Israeli authorities' policy in the Occupied Territories.

The organization provides much needed legal assistance to Palestinians in cases concerning the abovementioned issues. Surveyor's plans are also supplied as needed. These professional services are provided free of charge.

"The only thing that the Israeli government could do is to seal off East Jerusalem. Whatever they could do, they did it, to prevent the Palestinians from developing, enlarging and improving their living situation, especially the national parties. For 15 years, they have been designating areas as 'green areas'; building and development are prohibited in these areas. We agreed that there should be 'green areas' in the city, but these areas are larger than what is needed. Changing the land from 'green areas' to building areas is a long and hard process. Moreover, it is connected with a specific, compound law procedure, which we are working on in every possible way. Meanwhile the Arabs are still severely oppressed."

Former Jerusalem Mayor Teddy Kollek This is how Teddy Kollek, who was the mayor of Jerusalem for 25 years, described the building and zoning plans for East Jerusalem.

The oppressive conditions under which the Palestinians are living are demonstrated in the Israeli government's policies of preventing them to return to their homeland and paving the way for their immigration They are further illustrated by their use of collective punishment, especially the use of house demolition under the pretense of building without a license or for security reasons.

What concerns the Land and Water Establishment (LAWE) is finding a solution to these occupation policies and examining the complex administrative procedures for obtaining building licenses. Also of major concern is the continuing policy of settlement building which results in the confiscation of more and more Palestinian land for building and enlarging Israeli settlements. This ultimately limits the area available for Palestinian villages and cities to expand and pushes the residents to leave their land.

To study these issues, LAWE, located in East Jerusalem, conducted a comprehensive study from December 25, 1993 to January 20, 1994. Its aim was to discover the number of houses that were built without a license between the years 1987-1993, which ones had actually been demolished as well as which cases were still in court. This enabled the organization to examine any changes in Israel's policy during that period, which encompasses the Intifada from December 1987, the Gulf War, and the signing of the Palestinian-Israeli agreement, the Declaration of Principles (DOP). This was a particularly important period since it was during this time that settlement building reached its peak in the Occupied Territories, especially in East Jerusalem.

The study included 185 homeowners whose houses had been demolished or were under threat of demolition. LAWE obtained the addresses of these people through three means:

1. LAWE's database. 2. Meetings with local mayors or municipalities 3. Meetings with lawyers knowledgeable on the issue.

The basis of this study was fieldwork collected by LAWE's fieldworkers. Interviews were conducted and a questionnaire, prepared by LAWE, was completed by each homeowner. The study included 15 villages in East Jerusalem and the surrounding area.

Below are the villages and the number of homeowners interviewed in each.

Question 1: Date of Construction and Number of Houses Destroyed

The first question concerned the date of building. It was determined that 58 of the 185 houses were built from 1980 to 1989. The period from January 1980-November 1987 was also included in the survey because some houses had been built before 1987 but were demolished during the 1990's or the cases were under appeal..

1. We noticed that during 1989, a larger than usual number houses, 31, had been built without a license. In our opinion, the reason for this was the Gulf War and the expulsion of the Palestinians from Kuwait. At that time, it was necessary for families to build accommodations for the newcomers so they constructed adjoining houses, second floors or built entirely new houses.

2. Following the Madrid Conference and the DOP (1992-1993), 72 houses were built without licenses. The reason for this LAWE believes was that people thought that peace would spread throughout the region, and the Israeli authorities would disregard their policy of destroying houses erected without a license.

Houses Demolished

The aim of building without a license is to provide a home for additional family members, as we mentioned earlier, hence, most of the new structures were individual houses. The ratio of land available for building in many cases was 70-100 square meters. Each house is composed of two living/sleeping rooms (or three if more than one family shared the same house), a kitchen and a bathroom. During our fieldwork, we found that in our study sample 125 homes were individual houses, 29 adjoining houses and 31 were houses with two or more stories.: Because of the intensive campaigns of land confiscation that are taking place around and in East Jerusalem only small tracts of land are available on which to build. According to the data, 125 of the homes were built in isolated areas with poor living facilities. When we asked the residents why they built in such locations, they said that this was the only piece of land they owned. They added they could not afford to rent outside their village, and even if they wanted to, there are few places to rent.

Question 2: Date of Demolition Order

Next, we asked the date of the demolition order. We found that from 1988-1994, that 81 houses had been totally destroyed, and 104 houses are in jeopardy. It became clear that the peak year for house demolition was 1993 when 27 were destroyed. This concided with the height of the peace talks between the PLO and the Israeli government.

Below are the number of houses destroyed each year.

Date of Demolition Number of Houses 1988 4 1989 4 1990 15 1991 13 1992 17 1993 27 1994 1 Still in court 104

Question 3: Warnings

We asked each owner if a demolition warning had been received and the date of the warning. We found that 148 owners received formal warnings while 35 did not receive any type of warning.

Below are the number of warnings issued each year.

Still in court 36

It was determined that of the 185 homeowners surveyed, 118 had applied for a building license while 67 had not. They did not do so they said because they did not trust the authorities. They believed that even if they had applied the authorities would have rejected their applications, and they do not have enough money to make an appeal and pay the lawyer's fees.

Of the 118 who did apply, the authorities refused to give them licenses, claiming in 32 cases that the specified land was considered a "green area", Another 52 were not included in the zoning plans, and 15 cases were considered state-owned land. The homes of these owners were either demolished or were under threat of demolition. Nineteen homeowners are still waiting for an answer .

Question 4: Zoning Plans

The aim behind asking this question regarding zoning plans for the previously mentioned areas was to discover the Israeli authorities' reason for not preparing such a plan. One of the main reasons for the demolitions is the lack of such a plan. It is the responsibility of the municipality to order one, and by so doing, the borders of a village can be enlarged to provide the necessary space for construction. What is happening instead is that new zoning plans are being drawn up which actually limit the area available for building. Of the 185 homeowners questioned, 112 said there was a zoning plan which included their land while 73 said there was not such a plan.

During the study, we noticed that the zoning plans for the Palestinians' land had not been approved by the authorities. This means that the area for building remains extremely limited while Israeli settlements are handed huge areas of land for development.

LAWE found that 97 owners had objected about the lack of such plans in writing to the Israeli government. Another 87 owners did not object in any manner.

Of those who did object, 11 submitted individual objections, 73 submitted a group rejection and 13 went though their village council.

The results of the objections were as follows: Out of 97 homeowners, 96 have not received an answer.

Question 5: Demolition Order

Out of the 185 homeowners, we found 166 filed an appeal with the municipal court against their demolition orders. The other 19 did not appeal, because they were never given the opportunity to object. Their houses were destroyed with no warning. They did not even have the time to remove their furniture or any other necessities. The 166 owners who did appeal, however, had to pay fines for building without a license ranging from $1,330 to 4,000. And although they paid the fines, their homes were still demolished. Of the 185 houses, 82 were razed, 16 demolition orders were canceled, and 87 cases are still pending.

Summary

After studying the collected data, we found that building a home without a license continues despite the possible negative consequences that may be experienced by the homeowner. Housing is an urgent need, especially for newly married couples who cannot live and work outside their village. Due to this reason, many of them build in areas that are not included within the municipal zoning plan. At the same time, the reasons given for the demolitions by the Israeli authorities are erroneous. The real reasons are to build new settlements and enlarge the existing ones.

Case Study

Lina Petersson, Jennifer Boynton and Anna Bredstrom from an alternative education program in Sweden participated in the study as fieldworkers. With their Palestinian counterparts, they visited the 15 villages mentioned earlier as part of the study. They wrote the following about the some of the families they visited and the Israeli procedures they witnessed.

It is the last day of our fieldwork. We are driving up one of the hills of Jebel Mukkaber. We can see a parked bus from a distance.

Sa'adah wipes her hands on her purple dress; we are interrupting her housework. We sit down in the shade of the bus. She squats beside us. She is barefoot, and her four-year-old daughter peeps at us from behind her.

Sa'adah is 48-years-old and has lived all her life in the village. At the age of 25, she became the second wife of an older Bedouin man. In 1972, he took his two wives and moved to their newly-built house. In 1993, they built a verandah without a license. This resulted in the Israeli authorities destroying not only the verandah but the whole house. The 10 persons living in the house became homeless. The first wife was lucky. She had the opportunity to live with her son while Sa'adah and the rest of the family have been living in the bus ever since.

Sa'adah feels that the situation is hopeless; she is uncertain about the future. She would like her children to continue their studies, but she is afraid that there will not be enough money.

Moreover, since the house was destroyed the family has been shunned by the community. The children have problems making friends. "People used to come and visit us, but no anymore," says the middle-aged woman.

The land the house was built on is theirs, and they do not want to move. They have applied for a new building license so that maybe one day in the future, they will be able to build a new house. Until then Sa'adah, her husband and their children continue to live in the old, rusty bus.

We come from Sweden. It is a country where there is no war or oppression. A country where everyone has the same right to an education and health care; where everyone has the right to build a house; and where everyone is equal by law. In our country, people can sleep safely at night.

Coming to your country has given us the opportunity to see with our own eyes a side of reality that we would not have experienced otherwise. You demand the same rights that we have in our country and for that you are oppressed. It is a strange world we live in, when people who fight for democracy and human rights, are imprisoned and punished.

To be a part of this study has been a great honor for us. As women, it has also given us the opportunity to meet Palestinian women in their daily lives. Daily life that for us means freedom, whereas for them it means occupation.

Conclusion

Without a doubt, the problem of housing is one of the principle problems faced by human beings, especially in the Third World. This phenomenon of not giving the Palestinians building licenses is one type of collective punishment that the Israeli government is practicing against the Arabs. The Israeli occupation imposes hard conditions on the Palestinians and prohibits them from building on their own land, ultimately forcing them to immigrate to other countries.

In view of the Palestinian growth rate and the limited space for building, due to the rise in land expropriation which benefits the Israeli settlements, building without a license has become commonplace. For the average Palestinian family, limiting the area for expansion, not providing building licenses, and delaying decisions concerning demolition orders, all hinder Palestinians from building on their own land. It also prevents horizontal expansion, especially in areas close to Israeli settlements and army camps.

It was concluded by LAWE that this prevalent phenomenon is caused by:

1. The lack of sufficient space suitable for building.

2. The nonexistence of zoning plans and in the case of their existence,and the use of such plans to limit the areas available for building therefore preventing further development.

3. The administrative procedures for getting a license.

4. The expansion of settlements and the increase in land confiscation in the past few years, especially in Jerusalem for security reasons and the construction of new roads.

5. The role of the Israeli court in solving the problem is only to give the impression to the international community that Israel is democratic with the Arab residents of East Jerusalem.