The Israeli Daily newspaper, Ha¹aretz, said that a total of 16 homes were demolished in the Jerusalem area today. Activists went one of the demolition sites and this is their story.
House Demolitions in Sur-Baher By Naama Nagar and Avia Keisar
10:30 Am. six volunteers from The Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD) and other activist organizations arrived at Deir Al-Amud neighbourhood in Sur-Baher, south of Jerusalem. A little earlier that morning inspectors from the civil administration arrived there with several bulldozers and Israeli border police forces. When we arrived there, the house of the Shweiki family had already been demolished, and the bulldozers approached the Amira family house, their neighbours. The house wasn't yet inhabited, and it's owners live in Sur-Baher. At this hour they were already at work, and although they got an urgent call from friends they didn't make it on time.
A few friends and neighbours gathered on the roof of the building, but were threatened by the police soldiers and fled. Three of us tried to stand in front of the bulldozer and resist, but police dragged us away, using handcuffs. These events were photographed by us and media photographers who were present there (including NBC). This house was demolished, too. The bulldozers moved from one house to another. In the following hours seven houses were demolished, on both sides of the wadi (valley). When I left the area, at 5 PM, the bulldozers approached the eighth house.
We wrote down the stories of two families.
The Shweikis are a young family: Mona, the mother, is 26. The father Basem is 30 years old. He works as a porter at Mahne-Yehuda market in Jerusalem. They have three children, aged five, three and one. The family moved in to its new house less than a year ago. Buying the land cost them some 60,000 NIS (US$12,000), and building the house some 150,000 NIS more (US$30,000). The couple invested all their savings, including the wedding presents, in it. Basem has worked and saved money for that goal since he was 16. He earns 600 NIS (US$120) a week. The demolition forces arrived without any warning. They didn't even let the couple take their belongings outside themselves. The parents sent their children quickly to Basem's brother, so they wouldn¹t witness their house turning into ruin.
Majdi and Arafat Amira, two brothers, 26 and 24, wanted to leave their crowded family house, where they have been living with their parents, another brother and three sisters. Their father works in Hadassa-Ein-Karem hospital. He had been saving for years in order to build a house for his kids, and started building a two-apartment house in 2000. Construction work took a long time due to financial difficulties. The huge sums were collected with the help of the whole family 180,000 NIS for the land and another 250,000 NIS for the building. The uncle told me: "we reduced our food in order to build these apartments". Today it was almost finished: infrastructure was recently installed. According to the family's claims, they didn't receive any demolition order, and a year ago they got a general warning, addressed at with all their neighbours.
Deir al-Amud is located outside the municipal borders of Jerusalem, in area C, south-east of the settlement of Har-Homa. Based on the location of the demolitions, the fact that neighbouring houses were demolished systematically, and on the fact that all houses in that surroundings got a warning a year ago (according to the Amira family), I estimate that the demolitions today are the first stage in preparing the 'grounds' for paving another section of road no. 80. Road no. 80 is a by-pass road that would connect the settlements of Tkoa and Nokdim to Jerusalem via south, via Har-Homa, as it passes Bethlehem from the east. A few months ago there have been land confiscations and hous demolitions in Za'atra, southern to Deir al-Amud, for that intention. If my estimation is correct, I'm afraid all houses in that wadi – a few dozens - are liable to be demolished.
By Naama Nagar Tour Coordinator Israeli Committee Against House Demolitons Naama at icahd.org
Additional Demolitions ICAHD staff reports:
Israeli security forces today also destroyed the Home of the Shawamreh Family in Anata, East Jerusalem. This house was undergoing reconstruction by the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions and the Global Campaign to Rebuild Palestinian Homes. Neighbors said that over 100 Israeli Army troops surrounded the neighborhood. They even brought several ambulances with them, obviously expecting a violent confrontation. However the army went ahead with the demolition without resistance since all available activists were at another demolition site in Sur Baher. Arik Ascherman, Executive Director of Rabbis for Human Rights, arrived at the site after the demolition was complete. This is the fourth time that the Shawamreh home has been demolished and Israeli and Palestinian activists have vowed to clear the site and begin rebuilding the house in two days, on Saturday 5th April.
Fred Schlomka, ICAHD staffer and project manager for the Rebuilding Homes Campaign said that a rapid response to rebuild will demonstrate the continuing non-violent resistance of both Palestinians and Israelis to the house demolition policy