Police Bring in Bulldozer to Evacuate Arabs, Demolish Homes; One Killed

It happened in Gaza:

The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) is gravely concerned over the death of a police officer and injuries to others who are responsible for law enforcement, by gunmen last Sunday while they were executing a court ruling by evacuating a plot belonging to the government. This incident is part of the state of security chaos and misuse of weapons. PCHR calls upon the Attorney General to open a serious investigation into this crime and to bring the perpetrators to justice. 

According to investigations conducted by PCHR, at approximately 23:30 on Sunday, 31 July 2011, medical staff at al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City announced the death of Majed Hamdan Karam, 23, a police officer from al-Tufah neighborhood in Gaza City. Karam died of wounds he sustained that afternoon in an armed clash in Juhor al-Dik village. He was on duty with Palestinian police and they were accompanied by officials from the Ministry of Awqaf (religious affairs) and a bulldozer in order to enforce the court ruling.  The force headed to a plot owned by the Ministry of Awqaf.  The plot was used by the Abu Thaher family who built three houses on the plot. Three families lived in the houses.

As the force started bulldozing the three houses, members of the Abu Thaher family and members of the Abu Hein family intervened to stop the demolition.  The police arrested four persons, and partially destroyed the houses which are now uninhabitable. While the police were leaving the village, gunmen who are relatives of two of the detainees approached them. The gunmen are believed to be members of a Palestinian armed group.  An armed clash took place between the police and the gunmen.  Two of the gunmen and three policemen, including Karam, were wounded as a result. The wounded were transferred to the al-Shifa Hospital for medical treatment.  The wounds of Karam were gravely serious and he was pronounced dead on the same day.  It should be noted that the late Mohammed Salem Abu Thaher had leased the plot of land from the Ministry of Awqaf for more than 45 years. After his death, his sons continued to lease it...

You were thinking the Israelis were "guilty", right?

^

The UN is Concerned

The UN is concerned:

Evictions and house demolitions are a growing humanitarian concern for..says the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

The consequences for families can be devastating: In addition to losing their homes, their main source of physical and economic security, families are faced with high legal bills, fines and charges, including the cost of their own eviction, OCHA says.

Was that about Jewish families? During the War of Independence in 1947 when Jewish families had to flee Shimon HaTzaddik neighborhood that became known, incorrectly, as Sheikh Jarrah, which was actually a nearby neighborhood? During the disengagement? At satellite outposts?

Nope.


That was about "Palestinians living in East Jerusalem".



Source

(Kippah tip: SR)


^

NYTimes - Better Later Than Never

The story from last Sunday, which I blogged here, finally made it into the NYTimes.

Here.

The story?

Oh:-

Bulldozers, accompanied by Hamas forces and police officers who beat residents with sticks, razed at least 25 houses, including some concrete structures here in Rafah, the southernmost city of Gaza.

Who Just Demolished Arab Homes?

Not Israel.


Hamas:-

Hamas police wielding clubs beat and pushed residents out of dozens of homes in the southern Gaza town of Rafah on Sunday before knocking the buildings down with bulldozers, residents said.

Gaza's militant Hamas rulers said the homes were built illegally on government land. Newly homeless residents were furious...For years, Palestinians have criticized Israel for destroying houses, mostly because they were built without permits issued by the military. Now, Rafah residents complained, their own government, run by the Islamic militant Hamas that seized power in Gaza in July 2007, has done the same.

"They promised reform and change — instead they've destroyed our homes," shouted Miasar Gan, a 54-year-old woman. Gan said she and her husband had nowhere else to go.

...Her neighbor, Nazira Abu Jara, 56, said policewomen wearing face veils typical of conservative Muslim women beat her with clubs until she fled her house with her husband and two children. "Neighbors help us get by with charity. We can't afford to build again," Abu Jara said.

...Residents said between 30 and 40 homes were torn down...Residents said more demolitions in the area were expected Monday.

For $50 A Day You Too Can Be An Active Anti-Zionist

The Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions has announced a "rebuilding camp" for the summer:

August 2 – August 15, 2009

The Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD) is proud to announce its 7th annual summer rebuilding camp...During two weeks we will construct two homes from the foundations to the roof, and hand the key to the families...For two weeks in August, camp participants engage in building activities punctuated by evening meetings with Palestinian and Israeli political figures, activists, academics and artists, including tours throughout the West Bank, Jerusalem and Israel...For two weeks the work site is a hive of construction, interaction, learning, discussion, and constructive resistance [and subversive activity].

We offer transportation to the camp every morning at 8am leaving from the New Gate in East Jerusalem...Suggested donation: $50 for the day; $25 for ½ a day.

The cost covers meals, all activities on site, and transport from the Old City to Beit Arabyia and back, and contribution to construction costs.

If you ask me, $50 is a rip-off expense.


And if we're talking about money, check this:

ICAHD Funding:

* ICAHD has received funding from the EU since at least 2000. In 2005, this NGO received 472,786 Euros for 24 months from the EU through the Partnerships for Peace program (EU link has expired, from NGO Monitor report, December 18, 2008). In 2008, PfP funding for ICAHD was not renewed.
* ICAHD received (p.3) $80,000 from the NGO Development Committee (NDC) which is made up of the pooled funding from the governments of Switzerland, Denmark, Holland, and Sweden in 2008-9.
* ICAHD’s annual budget (NIS):

2003 - 1,837,178
2004 - 1,928,743
2005 - 2,220,975
2006 - 2,346,196

* For 2005 and 2006, EU funding represented approximately half of ICAHD’s budget

In 2008, EU funding was halted.

I wonder who really needs the $50.