 |
| Demolished Palestinian home in East Jerusalem |
A big issue for Palestinians living in Israel and the West Bank is that of home demolition. I’m sure you’ve had friends who have had their houses demolished – it’s just like that here, too. Ok, so maybe you don’t know anyone who has had their house demolished. So here’s how it works.
The most common situation we heard about: Palestinian families expand (they have more kids, their kids grow up, get married, and have kids) and people want to add a room or another house on the property. But Israel almost never grants building permits to Palestinians. So many people go ahead and build without permits in order to accommodate their living needs. Then Israeli soldiers will come in and issue demolition orders, though they won’t necessarily act on them. Sometimes they do, and sometimes they just sit on the orders and use them as threats. When the Israeli government decides to carry out the demolition, the family might get 3 days warning that they have to move out. Or it might be a ½ hour warning like it was for Zabaeda, a Palestinian farm woman who served us supper in her re-built farm house one night. (In addition to demolishing their house, soldiers also beat her husband up on that occasion.)
 |
| All this fencing has been deemed illegal. Demolition orders have been issued. |
We went to the farm of Dahair, a Palestinian who farms near Hebron. A while back soldiers came to do an inspection and issued nine demolition orders on his place, for things ranging from buildings to tents to a fenced chicken run. The reason he is being harassed is due to the location of his farm. His family owns a big farm that is now right in the middle of four different Israeli settlements. The settlements would love to take away his property bit by bit, but because his ownership is so well documented, he has been able to fight it in courts up to this point.
In East Jerusalem (the part of Jerusalem captured by Israel in the 1967 war), 22,000 houses (almost half of the total) have demolition orders issued on them. There is no system to how the demolition orders are enforced. An order might be acted on in a few months or years could go by with nothing happening.
Our guide on our tour of East Jerusalem was a Jewish woman who is part of the Israeli Coalition Against Home Demolition, a group of Israelis who resist their government’s demolition of Palestinian houses in the Occupied Territories. She told of one house where the owners were told that their house would be demolished in days so they had to move out, so they did. But instead of demolishing the house, the Israeli government let settlers move in and take it over.
If the government demolishes a house, the owner is billed for the demolition and for clearing the rubble. Sometimes the owners are given the option of demolishing their homes themselves instead of paying the fees to the government.
In the U.S., our legal system certainly has its problems, but I think most of us would be outraged if our courts let this sort of thing happen. The Israeli courts almost never intervene in these cases, and even when they do, the military may or may not obey the court ruling. This happens all the time here, and only a small (but growing) number of Israelis finds this unjust. I am not just telling you the occasional outrageous case – every Palestinian we have talked to had stories like these to tell. Justice does not apply to Palestinians.
Hmm. It is certainly a tragic situation. And it seems there is little justice anywhere. On the one hand, the law could be more accommodating for Palestinians and permits wouldn't be so hard to acquire for those with real housing needs. Add to that the completely whacked out system they have with almost arbitrary enforcement, and you have quite a messed up system being run by Israel. On the other hand, Palestinians who outgrow their house or property could live within the law instead of breaking it either by purposing to keep themselves smaller, moving to another place where they can find appropriate accommodation and land for all, or dividing everything into units that can still be local, but not in the same place. This is a real failure on the part of the Palestinians to live and act responsibly. Of course, there is little positive reason to do so when the system you are living under is so completely messed up. If there is little or no justice coming to you, human nature is to take it for yourself. But that is not the way of Yeshua and I don't see much change for good coming from any of it until real reform happens on both sides.
ReplyDeleteI'm struck by your comment that "This is a real failure on the part of the Palestinians to live and act responsibly." You suggest that they move. One of the many problems with this is that they have no where to move. Another problem with this is that forcing people off the land where their people have lived and farmed for generations is immoral. A third issue is that I cannot ethically expect people to obey immoral laws and policies (think colored drinking fountains in the South). You end by suggesting that seeking justice when there is no justice coming to you is not the way of God. My understanding is of God is just the opposite of this.
ReplyDeleteReally? There is literally nowhere where they can move? They are all being forced to stay where they are and all people in all countries in all areas in all places are refusing to allow any single one of them to go anywhere? You'll forgive me if I think that sounds rather silly.
ReplyDeleteSure, forcing people off land where they have lived forever is immoral. I'm not suggesting anyone should. What I am suggesting is that the responsible thing for a person to do if they are living in a place and they are growing at a rate that may become a problem is to do something about that such as sending part of the family to live in another area locally or restricting such growth so it doesn't continue. That way, no one ever needs to leave or give up the place they have been living for so long. It's called living within one's means.
Oh, don't get me wrong, I don't expect anyone to obey immoral laws and policies. I expect them to break them. And I expect those who have such laws and policies to continue to react negatively in response. It is a vicious circle without, in my estimation, any end, until both sides change. My hope is that both sides will.
I have no problem with people seeking justice. But it is not the way of Yeshua to take justice for yourself against those who are injust against you. Like if my government stole something from me and I went to my government and stole it back or if my government treated me unjustly and I then turned around and abused it because it had no regard for me. That is not the way of Yeshua.