Israelis use legal tricks and excessive force to destroy home of Kameel Al-Sa'u in Beit Hanina, north of East Jerusalem

Israeli uses legal maneuver and excessive force to destroy home near East Jerusalem

Date: 03 / 07 / 2008 Time: 19:34
Jerusalem – Ma'an -

Israeli occupation soldiers demolished the home of Kameel Al-Sa'u in the neighborhood of Beit Hanina north of East Jerusalem Thursday morning.

Clashes erupted between the Israeli special police forces in charge of demolishing the home and a large number of Biet Hanina residents. In an attempt to stay the demolition, dozens of individuals parked their cars around the home, while others formed a human barrier between the Al-Sa'u home and the bulldozers of the Israeli municipality of Jerusalem. The structure was home to seven members of the Al-Sa'u family.

During the clashes a number of residents were arrested including Samir Al- Sa’u, Kameel's brother. Many surrounding the home sustained light injuries. The Israeli bulldozers managed to reach the site after hours of clashes, causing damages to the cars surrounding it. Once through the barrier, bulldozers began the demolition amidst massively tightened security by horse mounted policemen, border guards and Special Forces.

Israeli authorities issued the demolition order on for the home of Kameel Al-Sa'u in the Al-Ashqariyah quarter of the Beit hanin neighborhood on Wednesday evening. The order said that the home was being taken down because it was an "unlicensed building.”

A local Defense Attorney managed to get a temporary stay on the demolition. However, an Israeli judge of the conciliation court in West Jerusalem called the attorney and informed him that a session to resume the case would be held in thirty minutes. After waiting thirty minutes for the lawyer, the judge took a unilateral decision to demolish the home on Thursday morning.

A spokesperson for the Committee of the Leadership of Jerusalem Region from the Fatah movement, Demitri Delyani said that “the rush of the Israeli court to issue an order of demolition and the rapid implementation of the order by the Israeli municipality of Jerusalem is proof of their principal of collective punishment and the vindictive spirit of Israeli decision makers.” He added that “the demolition is part of the ethnic cleansing plan Israeli authorities have implemented in all their departments against the Palestinians in East Jerusalem."

Khalid Gharabli, a representative from the Fattah movement for Biet Hanina, Shu’afat and al- 'Isawiyah, denounced the demolition of Palestinian homes and said he considered today's actions as an obstruction to the peace process. He called for the organization of central protest activities in order to increase public awareness of the risks of demolitions to the peace process, and in order to promote different ways of resisting Israeli demolition crews peacefully.

Ayman as- Su’, a member of the executive committee of Biet Hanina, said that the Israeli forces used excessive force in order to suppress even those engaged in peaceful protest.

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