Conducted by:
Land and Water Establishment

INTRODUCTION

The recent demolition orders served to 19 families in al Issawiya village, a small village just northeast of Jerusalem, reveals the human cost of the Israeli policies to solidify their control over East Jerusalem. Representatives of 14 of the families came to Land and Water Establishment on 27 May to request legal aid against the municipality. Due to severe overcrowding inside the Israeli-municipality defined village limits, many families have been forced to add to already existing houses or build on family lands that have been defined into green areas or outside village limits. Some families who received notices have been living in their homes for years.

These demolition orders, served most recently against residents of al Issawiya, Ras al Amoud and Jabal Mukaber villages, illustrate a growing hostility toward the Arab residents of Jerusalem on the part of Israeli Mayor Olmert and his deputies Shmuel Meir and Uri Lubliansky. Throughout all of 1994, 19 administrative demolition orders were served to residents of Arab Jerusalem, but in the first five months of 1995 alone 47 demolition orders have been signed, 27 of which in the month of May. Seven houses have already been demolished in 1995, compared to the three that were demolished in all of 1994. These demolition orders served against the residents of East Jerusalem give little time to appeal and are issued without a semblance of due process. Indeed, recent statements by Deputy Mayor Shmuel Meir have explicitly stated the political motivations behind the demolitions in Arab Jerusalem - to restrict the expansion of Arab villages, to force the local Arab population to move out of the Jerusalem area and to increase existing controversy over the future status of Jerusalem.

But the arrival of Israeli bulldozers in al Issawiya village on 13 June 1995, and the subsequent fury with which the villagers greeted the army and demolition team, forced the Interior Ministry to re-evaluate its demolition orders. On the night of 13 June, the Interior Ministry announced a suspension of demolition orders that were issued by the Interior Ministry in Arab Jerusalem. The vast majority of demolition orders, however, are served by the Municipality, and so the declaration on the part of the Interior Ministry does not affect the demolition orders served by Israeli Mayor Olmert and the Municipality. Land and Water Establishment believes that this is not enough. All concerned parties need to maintain pressure on both the Municipality and the Interior Ministry to halt completely the brutal demolition policy currently employed.

LEGAL BACKGROUND ON HOUSE DEMOLITION

There are two legal bodies which are empowered to execute demolition orders. On the level of the Jerusalem Municipality, there is the Local Commission on Planning and Building, with the Mayor of Jerusalem at its head - Yahud Olmert. On the district level, the Interior Ministry, with David Lib'ai at its head, nominates a District Commission on Planning and Building. This body also has the authority to issue demolition orders and serves as an oversight of the local body. Demolition orders can therefore come from either agency, and both can issue demolition orders independently of the other.

Demolition orders can come in three forms: 1) an order to stop building, also sometimes called a decree; 2) criminal charges; and 3) an administrative order.

An order to stop building is the most common method used by the Municipality and Interior Ministry when dealing with West Jerusalem inhabitants. An order gives the builder time to attempt to obtain a permit, and the right to appeal the decision. Of the 96 orders to stop all building issued so far this year, only four of them applied to East Jerusalem. In large part, therefore, this right does not extend to Arab residents.

Criminal charges can be leveled against the builder. This process has a long and legally protected right of appeal - after criminal charges are brought against a builder, he or she then has all the rights of a defendant to challenge the decision, including producing evidence, witnesses, etc. This method, therefore, is used for residents of West Jerusalem.

Administrative orders are given almost exclusively to Arab residents of Jerusalem, and are the most severe. An administrative order only needs to be posted and, after an ineffective 24 hour appeal period, the demolition can take place immediately. This method, used extensively by the Jerusalem Municipality, has been by far the most common method used in al Issawiya, Ras al Amoud, and Jabal Mukaber. The politically motivated demolition campaign currently being waged by Olmert and his deputies Uri Lubliansky and Meir Shmuel has almost exclusively used adminstrative orders to demolish Arab homes.

This method is also much more popular on the Municipality level than on the level of the Interior Ministry, again reflecting its exaggerated use by Olmert and his deputies. In al Issawiya, for example, of the 19 demolition orders served there, all are adminstrative orders issued by the municipality. The case of Mohammed Obeid provides the notable exception, whose house was recently destroyed through adminstrative order but on the authority of the Interior Ministry.

Legally, Land and Water Establishment considers all demolition orders served by the Jerusalem Municipality as illegal, as the aims of the municipality are explicitly political and radically hostile to the Arab Jerusalem population. The case of al Issawiya village provides but one example of the manifestation of this policy.

AL ISSAWIYA

General Background of the Village:

Al Issawiya village lies in the northeastern region of Jerusalem, a small village of about 11,000 people. It begins at the hill called Alkhan al Ahmar in the east and extends to Jerusalem to the west, and from the valley near the villages of Anata in the north to the villages of Silwan and Alttur in the south, comprising an area of about 10,000 dunums (1 dunum = 1/4 of an acre or 1000 square meters). The village, however, is completely circumscribed by Israeli installations. The French Hill area and Hadassa hospital borders al Issawiya to the south and west, a closed military zone to the south and east, the highway to Ma'aleh Adumim to the west and the settlement Givat Servatit to the north and east. This Israeli development, built in Arab Jerusalem and the West Bank, resulted in the confiscation of 8000 dunums of the village lands. Therefore until 1994 only 2000 dunums were left to the village.

The village's growth rate has remained steady at about 3%. The population is relatively stable, meaning that few people move away from the village. This has created a population pressure on the village that required the revising of the old village skeleton plans.

Therefore in 1994 the village submitted a skeleton plan to the Jerusalem Municipality for approval, which took into consideration the village's special needs and natural growth areas. Specifically the villagers' skeleton plan envisioned using the southern access road which runs west to east in al Issawiya as the natural southern border of the village, since the village had already expanded to this point some years before. The Israeli Municipality rejected this plan, and in turn totally revised it. The new village plan #80/4, which replaced #80/1 according to planning laws #100 and #103, disregarded the practical suggestions made by the villagers themselves and pre-empted the possibility for future development of the village.

The village plans drawn up by the municipality defines the village into a tiny 660 dunum area. This 660 dunums represents only a third of the 2000 dunums which remained for al Issawiya residents after the series of confiscations which took place over the past decade. The municipality's plan disregarded the following points:

• the ownership of private lands;
• the lack of an official body to solve housing problems;
• the lack of real estate or other companies who would take the initiative to build homes to rent in the village;
• the issue of the division and sale of land. Palestinian families traditionally keep lands within the family, preferring to accept poverty than to lose their family lands. Therefore selling it is a slow process;
• that this skeleton plan is inflexible and doesn't take into consideration the realities of village roads and local agreements;
• that there are differing lifestyles between Jewish and Arab communities, and that different cultural factors need to be considered;
• that it is difficult to change the tradition and cultural norms of the village to accommodate a skeleton plan that was formulated by those who are distant and removed from the local community;

that the planners didn't take into consideration family use and ownership of family lands. Land use in Arab villages differs totally from use in Jewish neighborhoods.

Specifically, this plan not only greatly reduced the number of dunums included within the village limits, but also zones a great deal of land for "public parks". According to regulation number 24, public parks are owned by the municipality, and therefore the declared green areas must be considered as confiscated lands. The proposed park areas comprise an area of 185.4 dunums. This green area lies to the southwest of the village, between the new skeleton plan's boundaries and the southern east-west road of the village. The villagers object to this use of the land for the following reasons:

• The municipality must pay compensation to those who own the land designated for public parks. This money should be spent on other things and not on creating parks for people who culturally don't use parks and who practically must have place to expand;
• The parks deprive citizens of their right to build on their own lands, especially when families are already facing conditions of extreme overcrowding;
• Some land designated for the park already has several homes with permits located on it.
• In addition the entrance to al Issawiya village has been restricted, by the new plan, to one entrance on road #1 accessed from the French Hill to the northwest. Traffic congestion, however, is a problem on Saturdays and holidays. The villagers therefore recommended another secondary entrance be added on the other side from Alkhan al Ahmar. This request was refused.
• The villagers therefore asked that the village limits be expanded to take into consideration the growing needs of the village, and to accommodate the differences between Arab society and Israeli. They requested that the village limits be expanded south to the natural boundary of the east-west road, thus accommodating a part of the village that has already expanded to this point. Finally they pointed out that green areas in Arab villages is not only unnecessary, but simply an excuse to confiscate more land and deny its use to Arabs.

CASE STUDY OF HOUSES TO BE DEMOLISHED

A total of 19 houses have been scheduled for demolition. Case studies of 14 families follow.

1. Hussein Ahmad Hussein Obeid

Mr. Obeid's family live in a 57 square meter home, built on land which belonged to his father and which is now divided between his sons and daughters. Hussein Obeid's house is near the southern east-west road in al Issawiya, on the land that was excluded from the municipality's skeleton plan. Several older houses are built here which belong to the Obeid family, but no action has been taken against them. The newer homes, however, which have been built on the same lands by the same family, have consistently been served demolition orders. The municipality told Hussein Obeid that if he produced a letter by the village mukhtar authorizing his building on his family's lands, this could be used in his favor. In fact, his application to build was refused on the grounds that his house lay outside the village limits, and demolition orders were served to him on 25 September 1994.

This case is complicated by the fact that the Obeid family is now quite large. The original tract of land belonging to the elder Obeid, now located outside the village limits, consists of 2 1/2 dunums of land. This land was parceled out to his 6 sons and 9 daughters, so that now the 2 1/2 dunums provides the living space for 75 people. The family has nowhere else to build except on the family's land on this hill, and so their remaining land must be used to house its members.

2. Khader Mohammed Saleh Obeid

Khader Obeid's family lives in a 60 square meter home with four people (and a fifth on the way). His home is located on the Obeid family lands. Khader Obeid built his house on an area where his brother had already built a house in 1988, and which had been destroyed in the same year. Khader Obeid rebuilt and completed the house in 1995, but was refused a permit as his house was located outside village limits. His demolition orders were served on 25 May 1995.

3. Atif Mohammed Obeid

Atif Obeid's family lives in a small one-bedroom home on the same hill as his brothers. He first tried to build a house for his family of three (with a fourth on the way) in 1993, which was destroyed by the municipality. He has tried again, building his current home in 1994. His demolition orders were served on 25 May because, like his brothers' home, the house lay outside the village limits.

4. Rajab Hijazzi

Currently the family of Rajab Hijazzi is living in the home of his father. In his father's home, some 40 people, or 13 families, live in conditions of extreme overcrowding - each family has one room in which to live. The Hijazzi family built an addition to their father's home which would add 120 square meters - other options do not exist since the family owns no other lands, and in any case land is very limited in Issawiya because of the new skeleton plan. The demolition order was served against them in 1990, and their court date is set at 26 June 1995.

5. Ismat Yussef Obeid

His family of seven currently lives in a rented house. He built his home of 100 square meters in an area that has also been defined as outside the village limits. His orders were served on 25 May 1995.

6. Mohammed Eid Obeid

Mohammed Obeid belongs to the same family as above. He built his home of 62 square meters for his family of five in 1993. He applied for a permit at the time, which was refused. He applied a second time and was informed that the area had been declared a green area. This green area encompasses a large tract of land on the other side of the southern border road of al-Issawiya village. Demolition orders were served against his home in October 1994. A court date was set for 15 May 1995, but Mr. Obeid's lawyer failed to appear. On 22 May, police came to inspect the house and to demand a permit. Mr. Obeid consulted with his lawyer again, and his lawyer obtained for Mr. Obeid a meeting with the Municipality to discuss his permit, scheduled for 15 June 1995. Mohammed understood that the Interior Ministry could not demolish his house while a meeting was pending with the Municipality. He, and his lawyer, were mistaken. On the morning of 13 June, bulldozers came to al Issawiya village to destroy his house. The full story of the demolition is treated later.

7. Baha' Mohammed Obeid

He built his 40 square meter home for his family of five in 1994. He received his demolition orders in October 1994 because, like his neighbor Mohammed Eid Obeid, his house is located in the green area.

8. Imran Mohammed Obeid

His home, located adjacent to Baha' Mohammed Obeid and built at the same time, is also scheduled for demolition for the same reasons.

9. Fuad Mustapha and Saleh Mustapha

These two have built adjacent homes for their families, for a total number of 12 people for 220 square meters. Their houses are located in a residential zone. They applied for a permit, and received permission to build in July 1994. On 20 May demolition orders were delivered to them, with no reasons given.

10. Ahmed Dari

At present he and his eight member family are living with his mother. He built this home of 80 square meters in a residential zone in March of 1995, although he was unable to obtain a permit. He received demolition orders on 22 May.

11. Jamila Ibrahim Abdo

Her family of seven is currently renting a home, but she has built a house with a permit for 120 square meters. Her home exceeds the limits given in her permit, and a demolition order was served on 22 May.

12. Ribhi Dari

He began building this home in 1987, which was destroyed soon after it was begun. He began rebuilding this house in May 1995. He twice tried for a permit, and twice was refused, as his house is located in the green area which borders al Issawiya to the south. His family of 10 is currently living in his father's house, where approximately 40 people are living.

13. Ali Ata Alayan

Currently his family of ten is living in a 40 square meter house. He has built this house of 200 meters in a residential area. The municipality informed him that a permit for his house would cost 30,000 shekels - a prohibitive cost for him. His demolition orders were served on 22 May.

14. Ali Mohammed Hassan Oleizan

Currently eight people live in the first floor of his home. He built a second floor to his house to help accommodate his four sons when they get married. He received his demolition orders on 25 May - his house was declared too close to his neighbors for its size.

The others are:

Ali Darwish: recently built in residential zone but unable to obtain permit;

Mussa Darwish: recently built in residential zone but unable to obtain permit;

Amjed Aliyan: recently built in residential zone but unable to obtain permit;

Ahmed Darwish: built in residential zone but unable to obtain permit;

Subah Hamdan - house located in green area.

THE LEGAL CASE

Land and Water Establishment has retained Adv. Tawfiq Jabareen to represent the villagers of al Issawiya. Specifically he is representing Ali Ata Alayan, Ali Darwish, Mussa Darwish, Ahmed Darwish, Jamila Abdo, Amjed Ali Alayan, Fuad Mustapha, Robhi Dari, Ahmed Dari, and Subah Hamdan.

Mr. Jabareen will argue these cases based on the following points:

All 10 cases in al Issawiya village have been served administrative orders signed by the Local Commission on Planning and Building, meaning Israeli Mayor Olmert's office. The applicable law in this case is the Law on Planning and Building of 1965, section 238A. This section states two things: that the demolition orders must be signed by the Chairman of the Commission, and that the Chairman can practice his authority only after the Commission brings before him the affidavit of the engineer of the Local Commission.

On the first point, four demolition orders served to residents were signed by the Deputy Chair Lubliansky. This is improper procedure, as the demolition orders can only be signed by the Chair.

On the second point, the engineer must produce an affidavit which certifies that a) the house was built without a permit; b) the house was not completed in less than 60 days; or c) that no-one is currently residing in the house, or has been living there less than 30 days. But the engineer who produced the affidavits for Chairman Olmert was not the engineer of the Local Commission, but rather an engineer appointed by Chairman Olmert himself. Thus his affidavits are invalid and illegal.

Finally, Mr. Jabareen will argue that the demolition policy on the part of the Local Commission on Planning and Building is discriminatory against the Arab residents of Jerusalem, and based on political rather than legal grounds. The method by which the decisions to demolish are made, and the "revising" or creation of skeleton plans that bear no relation to the concerned village but have clear political goals, must be brought into question and changed. The current practice as it stands now is blatantly racist, political and therefore illegal.

THE DEMOLITION

After villagers from al Issawiya came to Land and Water Establishment to request legal aid in mid-May, the people organized a demonstration to protest against the discriminatory and politically motivated policies of the Municipality. Already the issue of house demolitions in East Jerusalem was threatening to become an explosive issue. The villagers hoped to avoid violent confrontation or significant destruction by publicizing their case.

The demonstration on 3 June drew some 100 people from the village, and they marched through the village demanding that the orders be rescinded. The hopes that this would encourage some kind of re-evaluation of the policies enacted by Israeli Mayor Olmert were destroyed when bulldozers arrived in the village on 13 June.

After visiting the village the day after the demolition, and speaking with Mohammed Eid Obeid, whose house was destroyed, and with other residents of al Issawiya, Land and Water Establishment issued the following press release:

Illegal Demolition in al Issawiya Village

Yesterday, beginning at 8:00 in the morning, bulldozers came and destroyed the house of Mohammed Eid Obeid. The bulldozers came on orders from the Interior Ministry, as did the soldiers to protect this "operation". The only access to the house was a footpath, so the bulldozers created a road for themselves; destroying the water pipes that served the area, uprooting trees, and cutting into the rock of the hill.

The family was not allowed access to the house. Soldiers removed what they thought was important, but destroyed much of the family's belongings in the process. Several residents were injured, some seriously, when they tried to enter the house to remove more of the family's belongings. During the demolition the soldiers opened fire at the residents of al Issawiya, and brutally beat some 24 people. Two women were seriously injured and hospitalized, one with a broken neck and the other with a bullet wound in the face. By 1:00 p.m. it was over - the house reduced to a pile of rubble, over 20 wounded, a total of three in the hospital, and a displaced family of five in desperate need of a home.

The story of the Obeid family's demolition began in October 1994, when the family received its demolition order. Nothing new happened until 15 May, when the Obeid family had a court date to appeal the demolition order. The lawyer failed to appear, and on 22 May the police came to inspect the house and demand a permit. Shortly thereafter, the lawyer for the Obeid family requested and was granted a hearing with the municipality to discuss the permit, set for 15 June. Therefore the demolition, carried out on 13 June and ordered by the Interior Ministry, was illegal as a hearing was pending for the family. The fact that the demolition was carried out in contradiction of Israeli regulation, and the brutality with which it was carried out, reflects a growing hostility toward the Arab residents of Jerusalem and increasing attempts by the Municipality, namely Israeli Mayor Olmert, to radicalize the Jerusalem issue and push it onto the Israeli public agenda.

Land and Water Establishment believes that the temporary decision of the Interior Ministry on 13 June to suspend all demolition orders in East Jerusalem is not enough. LAWE calls on the Ministry to cancel entirely these demolition orders and stop the racist and arbitrary policies at their root. LAWE also requests a legal review of these demolition orders, and a denial of the municipality's right to issue demolition orders, as these orders are motivated by political factors.

** The residents of al Issawiya village, this morning, began reconstructing a house for Mohammed Obeid's family. LAWE welcomes this act of solidarity, and calls on all those affected by these policies to join LAWE's campaign for protecting Arab Jerusalem.

The following residents were wounded by soldiers:

Eid Obeid, 56 years old : hit on the hand and head, taken to the hospital

Fatima Nassra Obeid, 50 : hit by soldiers

Myassa Said Obeid, 29 : beaten by soldiers with baton

Abir Abed Obeid, 24 years old and 3 months pregnant : beaten by soldiers

Fawzi Mohammed Said Obeid, 28 : severely beaten by soldiers and hospitalized

Mohammed Hussein Durbas, 35;Hussein Durbas, 55;Hussein Durbas, 12 : beaten by soldiers

Zakiyye Anwar Obeid, 45 : shot in face and hand with rubber bullets, shattered teeth, hospitalized.

Atef Obeid, 28 : rubber bullet in head and arm

Baha' Obeid, 32 : beaten by police in head and back

Rifka Shawqet Obeid, 35 : beaten on leg and back with baton

Badia Mohammed Hassan Obeid, 14 : rubber bullet in hand

Zahara Eissa Obeid, 35 : beaten on shoulder with baton

Eyman Eid Obeid, 24 : hit with butt of gun on the head

Mussa Mohammed Hamdan, 50 : beaten with baton

Imjad Mohammed Obeid, 23 : beaten with baton

Fedwa Ahmed Obeid, 20 : beaten and threatened by soldiers

Ali Ahmed Obeid, 31 : beaten and locked in a house

Khader Samed Sami Obeid, 24 : Severely beaten by 5 soldiers

Khader Saleh Obeid, 25 : beaten by soldiers

Ali Hamdan, 18 : beaten and hit between legs

Amran Hamdan, 22 : beaten by soldiers

Bahiye Said Obeid, 56 : beaten by police, aggravated heart condition

Mohammed Eid Obeid, 30 : treatment by soldiers aggravated work-related leg injury

Khaled Azzaghari, journalist/photographer : wounded several times by rubber bullets

CONCLUSION

Land and Water Establishment strongly condemns the Jerusalem Municipality's demolition policy as a politically motivated and racist crusade against the residents of East Jerusalem. The numbers of demolition orders served to Arab residents of Jerusalem show that recently the municipality has engaged in a political campaign to cut off the livelihoods of the Arab population here and to extend and solidify Jewish control over Arab Jerusalem. Recent statements by officials in the Municipality, and their involvement (particularly on the part of Deputy Mayor Shmuel Meir) in religious-nationalist settlers groups in East Jerusalem, betray this policy. Municipality policy based on political motivations is patently illegal and unjust, and therefore the entire process must be brought under review.