On Wednesday June 15th at 7:30 in the morning, the Interior Ministry came to the home of the Harchash family in the At Tur of East Jerusalem along with over 100 police officers and soldiers, more than 20 military and police vehicles, four bulldozers, and a newly issued demolition order. The soldiers closed off the area and surrounded the site with caution tape and a sign that reads:

Danger!
Demolition
No Entry
By order of the Jerusalem Municipality

For five months the family had been in the process of building the new three story home, to house about 40 people, on their private land. On June 9th, they received an order from the municipality to halt the construction. But up until Wednesday morning, they had not received any word of a demolition order. The family immediately sent their lawyer to court to receive an order to freeze the demolition, which he quickly obtained. Even after he spoke with the lawyer on the phone, the officer on site refused to halt the demolition and demanded to see the actual order from the court, but started the demolition while waiting for the lawyer to return to the site. The four bulldozers had just begun their work when the lawyer arrived, but the commanding officer would not halt the demolition: “It has begun; it would be dangerous to stop it now.”

DANGER! DEMOLITION
It is clear that the Israeli government’s policy of demolishing Palestinian homes is, as the sign reads, extremely dangerous. It is a gross violation of human rights and creates only anger towards Israel. The commanding officer’s complete disregard for the judicial system and its freeze order further demonstrate the extent to which Palestinians’ rights to due process are ignored.

NO ENTRY
In the words of Anata resident Salim Shawamreh, whose house has been demolished four times: "It is a quiet transfer policy, such actions say only one thing: Leave this place."

For more details about the demolition, please contact B’Tselem Field Researcher Kareem Issa Jubran at 050-690-9224