Israel occupation government issues 13 demolition orders for Palestinian apartments in East Jerusalem, demolish water infrastructure in Baqa'a

Date: 07 / 06 / 2009  Time:  11:41
Jerusalem - Ma’an -

The Israeli occupation government Jerusalem municipality on Sunday issued 13 demolition orders for Palestinian apartments in Beit Hanina, under the pretext that they lack permits.

The demolition orders will affect the 13 apartments at the Al-Halhouly building in Beit Hanina, in the Ganet Adan (Garden of Eden) area, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Jerusalem Affairs.

In a statement, the ministry said that the issue of the houses, home to about 100 Palestinians, had been handed over to attorney Sami Arsheed, who will pursue the issue within Israel's court system.

Israel’s Jerusalem Municipality is moving to demolish over 100 houses and remove the 140 families who live in the Palestinian neighborhood of Silwan in East Jerusalem. The decision is expected to lead to the forced displacement of more than 1,000 Palestinians from their family residences.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in March said Israel’s plan to demolish dozens of Palestinian homes in East Jerusalem was “unhelpful.”

"Clearly this kind of activity is unhelpful and not in keeping with the obligations entered into under the Road Map," Clinton said at a Ramallah news conference.

"It is an issue that we intend to raise with the government of Israel and the government at the municipal level in Jerusalem," she added, shortly after meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

Israeli occupation army demolishes water infrastructure of West Bank village

Monday June 08, 2009 13:05 by Katherine Orwell - IMEMC News

The Israeli army has been trying to take out water and electric systems of the small village Baqa’a, north of the Southern West Bank city of Hebron on Monday morning. Around 5 people sustained injuries as they tried to stop the Israeli army from demolishing their water wells. Jeff Halper, from the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD) was arrested for trying to obstruct the military.

The Israeli army arrived at the village around six in the morning, bringing three cranes, four bulldozers and numerous back-up and support vehicles.

A local witness from the Christian Peacemaker Team told IMEMC that the army had been targeting four different sites in the area. It is known that at least six water wells were demolished by the Israeli army . Two wells are expected to have been destroyed, as the Israeli machinery has been seen at the location of the wells.

Irrigation pipes have been confiscated by the military and at least one electric tower has been taken down.

Villagers that tried to stop the destruction of their property sustained injuries as they were beaten by soldiers. Local witnesses say that five people were injured, among them two women that had to be taken by ambulance. The army stopped the ambulance, so that it couldn’t reach the hospital.

Israeli and international peace activists were present to support the villagers. One of them, Jeff Halper from ICAHD, was arrested by the military.

New committee against judaization schemes inaugurates its work in Jerusalem

[ 07/06/2009 - 09:23 PM ]

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)--

The Jerusalemite committee against demolition and relocation (Hema) declared the inauguration of its formal work on Saturday, stressing that its establishment is aimed to defend occupied Jerusalem against the Israeli judaization schemes.

The inauguration of this committee was announced during a news conference held at the Ambassador hotel in Jerusalem.

The committee said that it would work on confronting the escalating Israeli policy of demolition and coercive evacuation used against the Palestinians in the holy city.

For his part, Sheikh Ekrema Sabri, the Aqsa Mosque Imam, emphasized the seriousness of internationalizing Jerusalem, saying that those who call for the internationalization do not realize the dangerous impacts of this project on Jerusalem.

Sheikh Sabri added that the internationalization of Jerusalem would deprive Arabs and Muslims from their sovereignty over the holy city and would be like new occupation, noting that the Palestinian people had rejected this project since 1947.

In another related context, the anti-Zionism and racism society in Jordan held on Saturday evening a preparatory symposium aimed to develop a national consensus to confront the projects that seek to resolve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict at the expense of Jordan.

The participants warned, in a statement, of the risks of the alternative homeland and the Zio-American conspiracy in this regard that is approved by some Arab leaders, noting that there is unanimity within Israel on the adoption of the right-wing proposal of establishing an alternative homeland for Palestinians in Jordan.

The statement demanded the Jordanian government to lodge a complaint with the UN Security Council and call for discussing this serious challenge in a special session held by the Arab League.

The statement underlined that the alternative homeland idea is based on the termination of the Palestinian refugees’ right to return to occupied Palestine and the resettlement of Palestinians in other countries, warning the Jordanian government of not taking into account the serious consequences resulting from implementing this scheme.