Housing & House Demolitions

In June 1967, Israel unilaterally expanded the boundaries of Jerusalem by annexing some 70 km² to the municipal boundaries of West Jerusalem. Some 24 Km² of the area were expropriated primarily to build new Jewish neighborhoods for which master plans were developed (so far covering 17.5 km²), while for the remaining 45 km² no such plans exist. Only 5 km2 of the area for which master plans exist are allocated for Palestinian housing needs (about 8% of the total area of East Jerusalem; of these, only approx. 7.3% is available for residential and only some 0.6% for commercial and industrial construction. (IrShalem. East Jerusalem - The Current Planning Situation. A Survey of Municipal Plans and Planning Policy, 1998.)

Facts & Figures

• Between 1967 and 1997, no more than 12% of all new building were built in Palestinian neighborhoods (most housing there was privately constructed), while the Israeli public sector constructed at least 40,000 housing units for Jews on expropriated land.
• Despite Israeli restrictive policies, the number of Palestinian dwellings in the city increased considerably in recent years (with some estimates speaking of 6,000 new dwellings in the past three years), though almost all of this construction was ‘unlicensed ‘ as Palestinians are routinely denied the required building permits. On average, the WJM issues one building permit for every additional 6.3 West Jeruslemites and only one for every 42.6 additional Palestinian East Jerusalem residents. (Peace Now, May 1997).
• Unlicensed – and thus ‘illegal’ – construction provides the WJM with a pretext to demolish Palestinian homes. According to Orient House figures (13 March 1999) over 2,000 houses have been demolished in Jerusalem by Israel science 1967. In 1998 alone, 39 houses were demolished, and 19 in 1999 (until mid Nov.) (Law, Annual Report, 1998; for 1999: B’Tselem.) As a result of these discriminatory policies, thousands of Palestinian Jerusalemites live under several overcrowded conditions or even in caves, tents or under similarly inadequate conditions.(Illegally built houses in West Jerusalem are never destroyed, although up to 70% of the building violations in the city occur there).

• Another Israeli strategy to restrict Palestinian construction in East Jerusalem is the WJM’s Town Planning Scheme (TPS): without an approved TPS that compiles to the infrastructural, zoning, and housing requirements of the municipality’s planning goals, no building permits will be issued. TPSs are comprehensive, costly and require extensive coordination with the municipal authorities; their stipulations make it nearly impossible for Palestinians to obtain the green light for development and housing plans. TPS approval for Palestinians is furthermore excessively delayed: for example, a plan for Shu’fat was approved only after 13 years, one for Abu Tor took 12 years, and a plan submitted in 1987 for Ras Al-Amud is still pending. Since 1978, only 13 Palestinian TPS have been approved, and even then, the number of proposed housing units is usually cut by at least half.

Source: Palestinian Academic Society for the Studies of International Affairs. (PASSIA )