UN: Israel Demolitions Must Cease

The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs has issued a report detailing the difficulties facing Palestinians in East Jerusalem who wish to build legal domiciles, and is demanding that Israel cease demolishing these homes. The report seeks to address "the phenomenon of 'illegal' Palestinian construction in East Jerusalem resulting from the failure of the Israeli authorities to provide adequate planning for Palestinian neighbourhoods."

The report, titled "The Planning Crisis in East Jerusalem: Understanding the Phenomenon of 'Illegal' Construction," then outlines the far-reaching impact that mass demolitions have had on the Palestinian population since they began in 2000: "Not only must displaced families overcome the psychological distress of losing their homes, they are usually burdened with debt after the loss of their primary asset, the demolished house, and, if they retained a lawyer, the payment of legal fees. In the case of East Jerusalem, families also face heavy fines imposed by the Jerusalem municipality and, in some cases, prison sentences."

According to the report, 673 homes were demolished in East Jerusalem between 2000 and 2008, constituting a quarter of all West Bank demolitions for that period. Moreover, since the beginning of 2009, 19 Palestinian homes in East Jerusalem have been demolished, displacing over 100 residents, including 60 children. And, according to the report, another 60,000 residents are threatened with like treatment.

The report outlines the domestic zoning policies that make it all but impossible for Palestinians to build legally within the Israeli-annexed area of East Jerusalem and the West Bank. According to the UN, only 13 percent of this area is allocated for Palestinian residents, while 35 percent is for Israeli "settlements," even though these settlements are "in violation of international law."

According to the Associated Press, Jerusalem's mayor Nir Barkat denies any unequal treatment and claims to enforce zoning and demolition laws evenly between Jews and Arabs.

Read the full report here, with graphs and maps included:

The Planning Crisis in East Jerusalem: Understanding the Phenomenon of 'Illegal' Construction - Free Legal Forms

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Comments

[Solaris123]

Jerusalem is a capital of Israel. It is a city with Jewish plurality of most of its history.
Jerusalem has been the spiritual center of the Jewish people for the last 3,000 years.
That's 1,700 years longer than existence of Islam.

Get used to it. Or not. It matters little.

[chaos4700]

Nobody recognizes Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. Even the pandering attempt by the US government to acknowledge it was shot down by the ICC. The US embassy remains in Tel Aviv -- where it belongs.

[Solaris123]

Jerusalem. Capital of Israel. All illegal construction will be demolished. Jewish majority in the city will be maintained. Self-declared effort of Palestinains to take over by over-breeding will be stopped.

Palestinians were one signature away from their own state, including E. Jerusalem. but chose war. Now Palestinains have to live with myopia and utter lack of political maturity of their leaders.
Maybe next generation­.....

[chaos4700]

Or the next... or the next... or maybe sixty years from now! Maybe a couple thousand!

Hell, maybe someday the Palestinians will have their own equivalent of the Zionist movement. Wouldn't that be the ultimate irony?

Anyway, Jerusalem is /not/ the capital of Israel. The UN doesn't recognize it as such, the US doesn't, the rest of the Middle East /certainly/ doesn't and the EU doesn't. Africa doesn't, China doesn't, Russia doesn't, Latin America doesn't... need I go on? So you can stop peddling the propaganda. Nobody's buying it.

[Solaris123]

Rinse and repeat.

[chaos4700]

For note, the UN Security Council has weighed on this and declared it invalid. This is one of the few times the US didn't even abuse its veto power to shield Israel's crimes.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UN_Security_Council_Resolution_478

[Paulo1]

The UN is insane. The chances of Israel ending its illegal activities are exactly zero.

[chaos4700]

We stopped the apartheid government in South Africa by mounting public pressure worldwide. The same is starting to happen in this case as well.

[skialethia]

The U.N. voted to create the State of Israel. You can't have it both ways. I too can say that that was a defining moment for the U.N. for better or for worse. Take your pick! If you pick worse, then let's also dissolve that decision.

[Spiritof1982]

"then let's also dissolve that decision."

Do you think before you type? How on earth do you propose a peaceful, orderly accomplishment of this? What's your desired end result here once the State of Israel is dissolved then? Your thoughts, Ms. skialethia?

[Solaris123]

All Muslim Middle Eastern states practice ethnic control via immigration, building permits and land grants.
Ancestral lands which once belonged to many generations of Jews were confiscated and given to Muslims. All over the Middle East.
Lebanese actively prohibit ALL people of Palestinian ancestry form building houses or buying ANY real estate. Reason--maintain ethnic balance.
Israel wants Jerusalem to be what it has been thoroughgoing centuries-- a city with Jewish majority.
You don't like it---tough.

Go complain to the Lebanese for refusing to grant third generation Lebanese any human rights.
Don't want to? then go whine somewhere else.

[chaos4700]

ALL countries practice ethnic control via immigration, ML. The big difference? Palestinians can't immigrate /to/ their homeland -- that's where they're /from/ and the Israelis have committed an act of ethnic cleansing by making them refugees. Israel alone shoulders the responsibility for committing that crime against the Palestinians -- not any other countries that have or haven't extended amnesty to the Palestinians.

The fact is, thousands of militant European Jews came to Palestine and drove the original inhabitants out by force. No amount of propagandist misdirection will conceal the fact that Israel is an artifact of European colonialism.

[Solaris123]

"Palestinians can't immigrate /to/ their homeland "
The people who were born in the land of Israel can immigrate to Israel. I am sure taht can be easily arranged.
Homeland is a place were you're born and raised.
And those born elsewhere, will stay in the countries of their birth.
And if the countries of the their birth want to abuse them, like Lebanon, Syria, Egypt, Kuwai and Saudi Arabia--- take it up with them.

[Solaris123]

Jerusalem-- capital of Israel. Their country, if they want to give more permits to Jews and less permits to Arabs, so be it. You want to build illegally your risk demolition,. for ANY Israeli citizen or ID holder.
Jews are not allow to build on their ancestral lands anywhere in Middle East.
For example, Jews lived in Egypt and Morocco since before Islam was a gleam in Mohammad's eye.
No Jew can build a house on the cities on their ancestral lands, some up to 15t generation ancestry.
Let's do the same in Jerusalem. To balance the scales.

In Jordan and PA land sale of ANY peace of land to a Jew is a capital offense,
Let's do the same in Jerusalem. To balance the scales.

You can whine, but without serious negotiations all of Jerusalem is Israeli. Deal with it.

[moflard]

By your argument, I can turf justifiably off any Jew in Ireland and, because it's been my people's ancestral home for millennia, build on it.

What you're supporting is collective punishment on a massive scale. Simply because Jews have been dispossessed in Egypt it's OK by you to dispossess a completely unrelated people - just because they share the same religion. That's pretty sick.

[Solaris123]

Palestinian leaders and so called academics have repeatedly and publicly stated their aim of taking over Israel by overpopulation.
Palestinains are not willing to negotaite in good faith, the military options ended in one defeat after another. So the Malthusian solution seems to resurrected from time to time.
They can try it Gaza or in Lebanon

But it ain't gonna fly in the capital of Israel. Get used to it.

[betz55]

For every Palestinian home destroyed, an illegal settlement should be bulldozed.

Establishment of Israeli settlements in the W Bank and Golan Heights following the 1967 six-day war have been recognized as illegal by the United Nations Security Council,the Intl Committee of the Red Cross, the states parties to the Geneva Convention and Intl Court of Justice.

Israel has refused to follow through with withdrawal from the occupied territories, cease building more illegal settlements, ot destroying Palestinian homes in E Jeruselem. But now the US, EU, and the world are waking up to Israeli duplicitious, oppression, apartheid, illegal settlement shenanigans.

All Israeli's should leave the West Bank, and East Jeruselem, period.

The Israeli "wall" should be destroyed or moved to the 1967 border.

All Israeli road blocks/check pts in the West Bank should be destroyed.

All Israeli settlements should be razed.

All Palestinain bantustans and ghettos should be liberated and the Palestinians allowed to live freely with security, legitimized national apirations, and without fear of Israeli terrorist attacks and racist Israeli harassment.

The Israeli's are the problem, not the Palestinians. And they are not fooling anyone.

Security and natural growth are the euphemisms Israel uses for continuing the occupation.

[zaz33]

betz55 - excellent

[baffy]

Absolutely correct.

[rosiebond007]

My vote is here too.

[Flyingpigs]

and you should leave America back on your Mayflower.­..

The UN says you all stole my LAND no?

[WarSkeptic]

No
You never had land. People back in your genetic lineage had land

We are talking about armed men kicking families out of their homes that they live in and destroying them

[Spiritof1982]

"The Israeli's are the problem, not the Palestinians. And they are not fooling anyone."

I hate to tell you, but both sides have some culpability in the conflict. That's facts.

[chaos4700]

When it's Palestinians who are bulldozing homes and epxanding their borders with tanks and guns, white phosphorous and cluster bombs...? Until then, Israel is a militarily aggressive occupying power and as an occupier, the onus for crimes against an occupied population lies squarely on Israelis.

[americanrevolution]

It is a form of terrorism plain and simple!

[Solaris123]

I am trying to remember how many houses Lebanese who had the misfortune of having a Palestinian great-grandfather are allowed to built.In the country of his birth.
That's right--zero! Often no permits are allowed to rebuild houses destroyed during various stages of Muslim-on- Muslims violence.
Is it terrorism? Let's hear your backpedali­ng... gentlemen, start your tricycles.

[skialethia]

Palestinians have had homes that are existing there for generations bulldozed, how do you justify that???? They are on their land, with titles to their property and they're being robbed!!!

You can't justify that! You can't justify this atrocity!!!

[chaos4700]

I'm trying to remember how many Lebanese had homes in 2006 that were leveled by Israel's massive, widespread bombing campaign. I believe it numbered into the hundreds of thousands.

[DC]

Sooooo. Since when does the UN have anything of consequence to say?

[WarSkeptic]

The UN established the country if Israel

[Pleneras]

That is just plain mean and vindictive. Gotta have hate to the core to do something like that after destroying their lives and families.

How can you say you love God and hate the person next to you? That's the reason why quakers stay away from the people of the world... just plain evil.

[mark67nyc]

Regrettably, Israel doesn't care 2 shekels what the UN thinks on this or any other issue. Their leaders and settlers are hell-bent on flouting Roadmap guidelines. It's sheer madness that the illegal settlers and settlements are "legitimized" by the IDF, who act as buffers around these enclaves.

Stop the madness!

[littlelordfauntleroy]

the world sat and watched through many human rights violations, it is sitting and watching this one . call your congressman/woman and let them know you dont support this. Israel has to be stopped and for those who argue israel citizens are not part of this, sorry they are the worst part of it, if you go settle in israel that means someones land is taken to settle you, so you are just as culpable.
what power does Israel hold over all these so called western nations that make them sit silently by and ignore israels transgressions?????
only americans can stop the israelis. act now, make the calls write or call the white house support Obama to end this. am sure he wants to do something but the israeli lobby has to be tackled with tact on a political level, thats why your show of support is important

[FrozenNorthObserver]

Thats out ragous! Why next they will be saying that the"Cho sen On es" dont have the g od given right to mu rd er 1000s of innocent civilains! Simply out ragous!

[Solaris123]

Try building a house without a permit in Manhattan. Same thing.

[gbrooks]

Not even slightly the same thing.

[MideastDove]

No matter what end Solaris speaks from, it is the same thing.

[baffy]

This is Palestinian land which is ILLEGALLY OCCUPIED by Israel. How then can Israel decide what is or is not legal construction in East Jerusalem? It is time to tell these brutal oppressors that the world has had enough. Get out of Palestine now!

[Solaris123]

1.Jerusale­m is a capital of Israel.
2. East Jerusalem, was not taken from Palestinains. It was never theirs. Israel took it from Jordanians. And only after Jordanians attacked Israel in 1967.
If Palestinains want any part of J-lem they have to negotiate fir it, compromise, in good faith.
No make hysterical speeches about "ever centimeter" and preposterous talk Islamic Waqf
Deal with... from either end.

[Flyingpigs]

When you all leave my Land then you tell Israel to leave... but since Jew means from Judea they are in there Homeland.

Palestine means Philistine in Latin; so if the Arabs there are Palestinian thus philistines they should return to Greece because Philistines are from Greece.

Oh yeh they're not... they're from Syria; hence their Syrian dialect.

[Adam11]

Destruction of Palestinian house $0
Displacement of Poor woman an children $0
Knowing your $5bill/yr of your tax money pays this....Pr­iceless..

there is some us Gov. can dare to do...every­thing else there is ISREAL....­....

[Flyingpigs]

Billions given to Palestinians; Bombs purchased, rockets created, Hatred spewed, Arafat dies as a Billionaire - Is there really an economic infrastructure amongst the Palestinians? no... Their own choices priceless -

I'd rather give our money to the Tibetans who are the real ones suffering and are illegally occupied.

Second thought I think we should put our money and energy on Darfar - THIS IS THE A REAL ATROCITY - Oh yeah - they don't bomb buses or preach hatred so you all won't put your true humanity and liberal beliefs behind them - SAD...

And my Heart still bleeds in wounded knee...

[chaos4700]

"How to Spot a Lame, Lame Argument" by Johann Hari
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/johann-hari/how-to-spot-a-lame-lame-a_b_185787.html

I'm sure the Tibetans and the residents of Darfur are happy that their suffering only serves to make them a useful "human shield" for Israel and its supporters to hide crimes behind.

[WilliamL]

I see no one could come up with any response of support for this and/or/yet to make the "ant-" claims of those who find it unjust.

[azbird]

we have all come up with responses, but they wont print them. Very biased web site. Havent you ever wondered why no one ever responds to you? It`s not because you are right, its because they refuse to post them. If this is posted I will be surprised

[zaz33]

azbird - ditto