Sharon's 'united' Jerusalem
Israel quietly transfers Palestinian Jerusalemites prior to the implementation of the roadmap. Annika Hampson reports from Jerusalem
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The children of police officer Nasser Bakr, 47, react to news that Israeli troops in Beit Hanoun killed their father
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Five days after his government endorsed "the steps" laid out in the Quartet's roadmap, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon declared on 29 May that Israel would never relinquish control of occupied East Jerusalem.
"We will never concede Jerusalem. Never. As the prime minister of Israel, I am proud of the right to be Jerusalem's protector." Speaking at an official ceremony marking the 36th anniversary of Jerusalem's "unification", Sharon's words were a reflection of the realities being created on the ground that would deem Jerusalem impossible to divide in any final settlement agreement.
Indeed, since East Jerusalem was annexed by Israel in 1967, thousands of dunums of Palestinian land had been expropriated. Thirty-five per cent of this land had been used to build Israeli settlements, roads and other facilities, while 54 per cent had been set aside for "open spaces" reserved for security zones and future new settlements and planned roads.
Today, Palestinian Jerusalemites have the right to use and develop a mere 11 per cent of the total land comprising East Jerusalem. This right, however, is subject to extremely discriminatory housing regulations with the overall result of an overwhelming shortage of land and housing for the city's Palestinian population. East Jerusalem residents have consequently been faced with the choice of either moving out of Jerusalem and losing their Jerusalem residency rights or building without a permit only to risk having their property demolished by an Israeli bulldozer.
Ahmed Dari knows the feeling. After spending the last 20 years of his working life saving money for a house, he watched the Israeli authorities bulldoze it before it was even completed. Dari lives in the East Jerusalem neighbourhood of Issawiya with his wife and five children. A year ago, he used his life savings of nearly $33,000 to build a house with two apartments for his two older sons. Approximately 80 per cent of the house was completed when he was notified of the demolition order. Lacking an Israeli building permit, the family lost the court case and the house was subsequently bulldozed to the ground.
Dari is just one of countless victims of Israel's draconian housing regulations in Jerusalem where an Israeli building permit is almost impossible to obtain. Regardless of whether or not the permit is actually issued, residents are required to pay a $1,300 application fee, a necessary prerequisite for any construction work in Jerusalem. Palestinian applications are usually rejected on the grounds that the area has no overall urban plan, leaving people no choice but to build illegally at the risk of having their homes demolished.
The application process is enforced through a Kafkaesque system in which Palestinians have no voice in urban planning or decision-making and little access to the military and civilian administrative bodies that decide their cases. The overall result is a lengthy waiting period for applicants, and a high probability that their application would be rejected. This absurd system, in effect since 1967, has practically forced Palestinians to build without permits thus giving the municipality the legal cover to carry out its discriminating demolition policy.
Sami Ershied is an Israeli lawyer defending the Dari family and many other Palestinian families facing similar demolition orders. He believes that before the Al-Aqsa Intifada it was easier to defend families facing demolition orders. "The judges were much more interested in understanding the human side of the case and the cases were tried on an administrative basis," he explained. But times have changed. Nowadays the courts view the families as criminals. "The government is determined to carry out the policy of demolition, and this is reflected in court," he said, "I feel it is like a war."
Ershied regards the rejection of Palestinian applications as significant considering that Jewish permits for West Jerusalem often involve entire buildings whereas East Jerusalem permits are predominantly requested by families building extensions to existing properties. "It all revolves around the demographic balance in Jerusalem," explained Ershied. "The Israeli government aims to keep the ratio of Jews to Arabs at 72 per cent to 28 per cent and this is reflected in the city's housing plans."
Ershied further argued that the Israeli government is creating a shortage of Arab housing in order to slowly push the Palestinians out of Jerusalem and into the West Bank -- a policy often referred to as "quiet transfer". In Jerusalem, the overcrowded housing conditions, lack of building permits and the draconian policy of demolishing homes are the biggest factors that have forced residents to leave. Residents who opted to leave have also had their Israeli-issued identification papers confiscated. This, in turn, means the loss of a number of residency rights, including the right to live in Jerusalem or even enter Israel freely.
Raafat Mohamed, another Issawiya resident represented by Ershied did not apply for a building permit when he decided to use his life savings to construct a house. "I was born here, this is my home. I refuse to give up my right to live in Jerusalem," he said. Mohamed spoke of a sense of hopelessness and frustration, explaining that it is a no win situation. If he had taken the "legal" route, at an additional cost and time, he would have failed. Taking the "illegal" option put his house at risk. Israeli bulldozers flattened the house last month and Mohamed now lives with his wife and two children in his father's one-bedroom apartment. Determined not to give up, Mohamed said he would build the house again. "If they destroy that one, I will rebuild it another time."
"House demolitions might be permitted under Israeli law, but they are carried out in blatant disregard of international law. They are neither just nor Jewish," explained Rabbi Arik Ascherman, representative of Rabbis for Human Rights to the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions. He pointed out that 2002 saw the greatest number of house demolitions in a decade thus signalling a political move rather than an increase in criminality.
