Amnesty condemns demolition of Palestinian houses
Palestine-Israel, Politics, 12/8/1999

Thousands of Palestinians live under constant fear of their homes being demolished by the Israeli authorities because they have no chance of getting a building permit, even on land that has belonged to their families for generations, Amnesty International said in London Wednesday.

In a new report, the human rights organization said, "There is normally no warning of the time or date of a house demolition; the family may only have 15 minutes to take out what belongings they have before the furniture is thrown into the street and their home bulldozed"

Amnesty International delegates conducted a research visit to Israel and the West Bank in May and June 1999.

The findings, published in the new report "demolition and dispossession: the destruction of Palestinian homes," clearly reveal that Israeli law and military orders are double-standard. On the one hand, "The Palestinians are targeted for no other reason than because they are Palestinian. The demolition of their houses is just linked to Israeli discriminatory policy to restrict Palestinian development to existing urban areas," the report said.

On the other hand, "Israelis have few problems obtaining building permits and even if they build homes without authorization, their houses are rarely, if ever, demolished," it insisted.

Amnesty International considers these practices as a grave human rights violation against the Palestinian residents of the West Bank.

Hopes that demolition of Palestinian homes would end with the signing of the 1993 Oslo peace agreement have proved unfounded.

Recently, the new Israeli government of Prime Minister Ehud Barak set up an inter-ministerial committee to look at house demolitions in the West Bank, but bulldozers have not stopped, AI added.

"By targeting Palestinians for house demolitions and denial of building permits, the Israeli Government has violated its obligations under international human rights and humanitarian law which it has promised to uphold. This policy should be ended immediately," the report concluded.

Previous Stories:
  Another house demolished in Jerusalem   (10/26/1999)
  House demolition disrupts euphoria of safe passage opening   (10/26/1999)
  Gaza: Refugees so close to their homes, yet so far away!   (10/8/1999)

Please add a link on your webiste pointing to ArabicNews.com and bookmark ArabicNews.com & subscribe to our daily email news bulletin.

Search