Home demolitions

A year ago I was with a Christian Peacemaker Team delegation traveling through the West Bank. It was deeply disturbing to see the separation wall and the conditions many Palestinians were forced to live under. A week ago a story on NPR's morning edition brought back some of these memories as it described how the Israeli Defense Force had demolished a building providing housing for four Palestinian families. The reason given for the demolition was that the "proper permits had not been obtained." What is often left unsaid, but which NPR reported is that it is nearly impossible for Palestinians to get building permits to add on to their existing homes or to build new homes. When a family goes ahead and makes changes to their current house, or builds a new house the response is to demolish the building.













Palestinian home demolished near Bethlehem

One of the groups we met with in Jerusalem was the Israeli Committee Against Home Demolitions, (ICAHD) According to their website at least 18,000 homes of Palestinians have been demolished since Israel took control of the West Bank.


When I was in the West Bank we saw the remains of several home demolitions. The men in the group spent one night in the home of a Palestinian farmer, a man who can trace the ownership of his farm through his family back to the Ottoman Empire. He told us how has his family grew he wanted to move from his father's home and to build a house for his family. Repeated applications for a building permit were denied for "security reasons." Finally he built a small house in spite of not getting a permit. It was demolished. With the help of ICAHD he rebuilt the house only to have it demolished. Again with the help of ICAHD he was able to obtain a building permit and with the help of Palestinians and Israeli's he was able to build the house where we visited. Though he has the house he still faces harassment from nearby settlers and the Israeli government. When we visited him his water had been shut off by the municipal authorities for two weeks. He was struggling to keep his crops alive while the nearby settlement sported lush green lawns and blooming roses. The night we were there the water came back on and we scrambled to help the family fill all their available buckets before the water stopped again.

In many ways it is frustrating to hear our politicians repeat their strong support for Israel and its policies. At the same time you can hear politicians say, "its the Palestinians responsibility, if they want peace they should give up their claims to the land, renounce violence, and work for a negotiated settlement with Israel. Now I certainly agree that violent means are not helpful, but I find it interesting that the responsibility for making peace is laid at the feet of the weakest of the groups.















Palestinian home near Hebron. Remains of the demolished home are in the foreground.