During last October: Demolitions and demolition orders for hundreds of houses…Al-Aqsa Mosque is about to be divided
During last October: Demolitions and demolition orders for hundreds of houses…Al-Aqsa Mosque is about to be divided Wadi Hilweh Information Center- Silwan monitored the Israeli violations against Jerusalemites in the month of October which witnessed several arrests of children and minors and unprecedented demolition processes in addition to distributing demolition orders to buildings, apartment and commercial establishments in the city of Jerusalem. Arrests Wadi Hilweh Information Center monitored the arrest of more than 75 Jerusalemites during last month; among them were 45 children in which 22 were from the town of Silwan and the rest from the old city and Esawyeh. The ages of the detainees ranged between (10-17) years and most of the arrests were executed in the early morning hours as the Israeli forces raided the homes of the children while they’re sleeping and arrested them without telling their parents the reasons of the arrest. The children were taken alone in the police cars and then transferred to the investigation centers. Most of them were released on conditions of open house arrest and financial bails; note that several children were charged of throwing stones over 100 days ago. During last month, Aida Sidawi was arrested from in front of Al-Aqsa Mosque after she was assaulted and severely beaten. She was detained for 24 hours and was then released on condition of being isolated from Al-Aqsa. Wadi Hilweh Information Center confirmed the illegality of arresting children –according to the International and Israeli laws- as they are being arrested in the early morning hours from their homes and without allowing their parents to accompany them in the police cars in addition to handcuffing, terrifying and assaulting them during the arrest. The Center points out that limited clashes broke out between the children and Israeli forces in the city of Jerusalem and especially in Silwan during Al-Adha Eid because of the settlers’ provocative actions while the children were playing with their plastic guns as they followed them and prevented them from playing in the streets and alleys. Demolition and distributing demolition orders The last four days of October witnessed the demolition of buildings, residential rooms, barracks and commercial establishments; note that the municipality put the demolition processes and distributing demolition orders on hold during the beginning and the middle of the month because of the “Municipality elections and its advertisement” which was boycotted by most of the Jerusalemites. Few days after Nir Barakat was announced the Mayor of Jerusalem for a second term, the municipality crews continued their raids in the neighbourhoods of East Jerusalem in order to implement their plans and displace Jerusalemites from their homes. The Jerusalem municipality bulldozers demolished a residential building for Hajj Amin Rushdi Shweiki in the neighbourhood of Al-Ashqaryeh in Beit Hanina north of Jerusalem. The building consisted of 3 floors and had been established for 10 years where 9 individuals lived (Hajj Amin, his wife and 7 children where the oldest is 27 years old and the youngest is 12). The building was closed in February of 2005 by a decision from the municipality’s court and was reopened in April of 2006 and a building violation fee of 340 thousand NIS was imposed; note that the family has been paying the fee and they only owe 40 thousand NIS. The Jerusalem municipality bulldozers demolished a residential building that belongs to Qirresh family in the neighbourhood of Beit Hanina. The building consisted of 3 floors where the first floor had 4 commercial stores and 3 apartments. A young man from the family of Abu Sara lives in one of the apartments, the owner of the building and his wife and four children live in another. The second floor has two apartments while the third is still under construction; note that they started building almost a year ago. The Israeli bulldozers also demolished two rooms in the neighbourhood of Jabal Al-Mukabber that are owned by Hajj Bassam Shkeirat. Three people lived in the two rooms that have an area of 20 square meters. An 80-square meter barracks was also demolished; note that they were built 12 years ago. The bulldozers also demolished four storages in Beit Hanina that are owned by Nu’man Maswadeh; note that he is going through the final licensing procedures. Last month witnessed an unprecedented campaign of distributing demolition order for houses and residential buildings all over Jerusalem (Shu’fat refugee camp, Silwan, Beit Hanina, Al-Tur and Al-Sowaneh). The biggest campaign was in Shu’fat refugee camp and affected 200 residential buildings and storages where some of them have been established for 13 years and other are under construction; note that over 16 thousand people live in those buildings. The Jerusalem municipality court ordered to demolish part of a building owned by the family of Siam located in the neighbourhood of Bi’er Ayoub in Silwan. The building consists of 5 floors where each is 120 square meters (3 bedrooms, a living room and facilities). He pointed out that the first two floors were built before the occupation of Jerusalem and the other three floors were built in 1995. Hammoudeh Siam, his wife and three children (oldest is 15 and youngest is 5) and Arwa Siam along with her six children (oldest is 23 and youngest is 12) live on the fourth floor. Daoud Siam, his wife and their six children (oldest is 19 and youngest is 8) live on the fifth floor. The demolition order targeted the third and fifth floors, while the fifth is at risk of being demolished and there is a court session scheduled in mid December. Daoud explained that he submitted a request almost 20 years ago (in 1995) the Jerusalem municipality to obtain a license for the third and fourth floors. After completing all the necessary paperwork and procedures to obtain the license, the municipality conditioned to have a parking garage in the building and since the family were unable to do so, the municipality cancelled and denied their request; note that the municipality imposed building violation fees three times on Siam family where the total amount was more than 380 thousand NIS in addition to ordering the owner of the building to do “public service” for 4 months. The Israeli government lately presented the scheme of “Giv’ati or Kedem parking” in the neighbourhood of Wadi Hilweh in Silwan for public objection, a step in the process of ratifying the project. Raids Last month witnessed the raiding of four houses in Silwan in addition to breaking into the neighbourhood of the African Community in the old city and assaulting the residents and spraying them with pepper gas in order to execute some arrests. The Center also monitored several attacks for the group of “Price Tag”as they attacked the Latin Church in Silwan at the beginning of the month and damaged one gravestone in addition to writing racist slogans on its walla. They also slashe the tires of six cars and attacked a car dealership in Sheikh Jarrah by throwing big stones at the car parked inside. Four other settlers attacked four young men from the neighbourhood of Jabal Al-Mukabber while riding in “Egged” bus and hit them using pipes; the police arrested the four extremists. Al-Aqsa Mosque…Raids and plans for dividing it The violation against Al-Aqsa Mosque continued in the month of October when dozens of extremists and Rabbis broke into it on occasion of “ascend to the temple” where they performed their religious ritual in addition to raising the Israeli flag in front of the Dome of the Rock on Arafeh Day. An Israeli plan to build a synagogue inside Al-Aqsa was revealed. It is a draft to divide Al-Aqsa in terms of time and location and to build a Jewish synagogue on one fifth of the total area of Al-Aqsa Mosque where individual and group Jewish prayers will be held in specific set times during the week and holidays. The Israeli Religions Ministry also developed a law to allow Jews to pray at Al-Aqsa Mosque for the first time since 1967 as the “Jewish Home” initiated this thought were Jews are allowed to go inside Al-Aqsa at certain times during the day. Tags: Wadi Hilweh Information Center Monthly Report
