Saida house demolition
Another house was demolished in Palestine today. Another family has lost their home and one more is added to the numbers killed in this conflict. We came to the village just over an hour after the Israeli Defence Force had withdrawn.
Saida is a village with 3000 inhabitants in the north of the West Bank. It is beautifully situated on a hill, with great views to north, south, east and west. On clear days you can see all the way to the Mediterranean Sea. Because of its location, the village was an important place during the second intifada, which started in 2000. For the people who wanted to hide, it was a good place; you always could see if the soldiers were coming. Because of this the village has had lots of suffering. Five houses have been demolished, 35 inhabitants are in jail and 27 people were killed here from military operations since 2000.
I visited with the wife of a family whose house was lying in ruins. The women were gathered on porches or in small groups outside the neighbouring houses. It was a strong and emotional meeting with the wife of house. She tells us in short words what happened, we asked a few questions through our translator, a peace activist from B’Tselem [i], before we held hands to show our sympathy. I don’t know if it is common to cry openly here, therefore I tried to fight back my tears. But it looked like the woman I was holding hands with was also fighting back her tears. It all felt very unreal and bizarre. A young man was killed here just a few hours ago. The people seem calmer than I would expect. Men and children are walking aimlessly in what remains of the house.
This is what she told me: It was four thirty in the morning and the woman was getting ready for her morning prayer. Suddenly she heard soldiers outside screaming that the people in the house have to get out. She did not understand that it was her house until she got a telephone call from her brother living in the house next door. The woman woke up her husband and the two kids, they walked out of the house and out into the street. Her husband had to get undressed before he walked over to the soldiers. He was handcuffed and blindfolded before being taken away. The wife and the kids were taken to a neighbour’s house.
But still there was one more person in the house. He was living in the basement, a member of Islamic Jihad [ii] and had been wanted by the Israeli Defence Force for more than a year. Saleh Karkori was 27 years old, from the neighbouring village of Atil. He was a friend of the family who hid him – another of their sons was also in jail; sentenced to 13 years for being a member of Islamic Jihad. He told the family that he would stay. Very few people knew where he was living. This morning it turned out that it was here he was hiding.
IDF (Israeli Defence Force) snipers were placed in the neighbouring houses. They fired towards the house, and the shots were answered from the man inside. At six thirty the shooting stopped. Saleh Karkori was killed. When the IDF were certain that he was dead, they had the bulldozers demolish the house.
One half of the house was flattened to the ground, the body lying in the ruins. The soldiers withdraw from the scene, and right away there were hundreds of people in and beside what was left of the house. The body was taken away by an ambulance. In just a few hours there was a funeral. Some of the people started to look for bits and pieces of furniture that could be useful in what's left of the house.
In the ruins, I see a citrus press, what is left of a carpet, a door, pieces of plastic chairs, pieces of the railing and a picture. Someone’s life is here in these ruins, someone’s house has just been destroyed. And we drive away down the narrow, steep streets of Saida.
[i] The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories, established in 1989. It endeavors to document and educate the Israeli public and policymakers about human rights violations in the Occupied Territories, combat the phenomenon of denial prevalent among the Israeli public, and help create a human rights culture in Israel.
[ii] Palestinian Organisation formed in mid-1980s by Fahi Shiqaqi and Abdulazizz Odeh. Advocates armed struggle for the liberation of Palestine.
