No permit, no house
The family looking on as their belongings are removed from their house.
The detained men watching the demolition of their house.
EA Audrey observing the house demolition.
The road alongside our guest house is used by many as a car park, so when the bright yellow arms of bulldozers peered at us over the wall, it did not seem significant, the experienced knew otherwise. Soon we were into action with Allyn from World Vision, as we sought to find the exact location of the latest house demolition, almost in our own back yard. Much to Allyn's frustration, initially my fellow Ecumenical Accompanier Brigitte from Switzerland and I were the only internationals present and we were able to talk briefly with the family of 7, who were refugees driven out of nearby Silwan by settlers (Israeli citizens living on Palestinian occupied territory, illegally according to International Law). In common with many other Palestinians they had applied unsuccessfully for a permit to build, these permit applications are very expensive whether or not they are approved, but in common most others, they went ahead more in hope than expectation. A demolition order had been served 2 years ago, as always with an uncertain date for implementation, they were told on 20th May that they had 1-2 weeks, but in the event the bulldozers arrived next day. Another source told us that they ran out of money for their lawyer, so lost their case in court, again a common scenario. Bizarrely the family will receive a substantial bill for the "privilege" of having their house demolished.
The army of some 40 soldiers came and moved us away to a site above the house, good viewing, but totally isolated from the family. Gradually other witnesses plus Associated press and the Spanish press arrived, but we were all corralled on our viewing spot. At which point Meir Margalit of ICAHD (Israeli Committee Against House Demolition) joined us, he knew the family and told us of the court decision not to halt the demolition. Meir had previously written in "Chain Reaction" Issue no7, pointing out "that faced with incessant proliferation of bureaucratic planning, legal and economic hurdles, making it impossible to obtain a building permit, East Jerusalem residents had to resort to unlicensed construction, leading to 83 demolitions in East Jerusalem in 2007." Meir points out that this does not include a similar number of properties demolished by owners themselves, offered as a "plea bargain" so that the fine paid is small.
Straight on the heels of a sniffer dog came a team of some 20 yellow jacketed men who proceeded to empty the house of furniture, with a degree of respect and care, but speedily with the family looking on forlornly. The little girl in particular, a picture of pain and confusion.
The furniture was stored so close to the house, that it would soon be covered in dirt and dust from the demolition. The removal went on unabated, poignantly, the dining table still showing signs of the last family breakfast with spices etc cleared into a bag by a labourer, what was he feeling I wondered?
Suddenly a scuffle broke out inside the entrance to the house, not in our vision, all work stopped, the army moved in and the family were firmly escorted away from the area. We learned later that some furniture was scratched and that sparked an outburst of anger by the uncle. This led to the family being "detained" and out of contact with anyone but the army.
It was from this point on, that my concern and anxiety for the family heightened. At 10.30 am the labourers moved out and bulldozers moved in with precision and sickening relentlessness, which bored a hole in the pit of my stomach, as well as in the roof of the house. The sheer power and precision of demolition with the associated noise and dust was stifling and overwhelming.
But above all through all the dust, in the distance we could see the family, standing in the shade, bewildered and surrounded by soldiers. How could I stand there and do nothing, but in the event that is what had to be. Numerous attempts to be allowed to stand with the family, as an Accompanier – my role surely – all fell on deaf ears, even with the help of an Arabic and Hebrew speaking interpreter. Phone advice on who to contact, all apparently to no avail, it was indeed a bad day. Suddenly the army escorted the mother and girls to a neighbour, who took them into her home. We will never know why, but perhaps, just maybe, our persistence paid off.
The men of the family still detained, just had to look on as their home was systematically and relentlessly reduced to a pile of rubble.
As I returned home, I pondered on the fact that the family had no home to return to and that in most civilised societies governments are struggling to build homes, not destroy them. It seems here that the government has more interest in land clearance, than provision for the indigenous people and in that way a slow but sure aim of driving the population out by default to make way for new Israeli settlements which appear on almost every hilltop always ready to expand as the opportunity arises. Even as I write we have learned of 22 more demolition orders being served in Silwan from where this family were "relocated," all part of the very evident expansion of settlements here in Occupied East Jerusalem. For the uninitiated a Settlement is an organised community of Israeli civilians established on land in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, with the approval and direct or indirect support of the Israeli Government.
A few days on and I look back and wonder could I have done more? May be not on the day, but as this is my first and probably not my last such experience, witnessing and documenting and enabling you to read this account is part of the role of an Ecumenical Accompanier as we walk the walk through written and spoken advocacy, an essential tool in our work to live alongside, supporting, enabling, witnessing, monitoring and reporting events to bring an end to the Israeli occupation non-violently and with justice.
