<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?><oembed><version><![CDATA[1.0]]></version><provider_name><![CDATA[Occupied Palestine | فلسطين]]></provider_name><provider_url><![CDATA[https://occupiedpalestine.wordpress.com]]></provider_url><author_name><![CDATA[occupiedpalestine]]></author_name><author_url><![CDATA[https://occupiedpalestine.wordpress.com/author/hajarhajar/]]></author_url><title><![CDATA[East Jerusalem evictions causing suffering,&nbsp;anguish]]></title><type><![CDATA[link]]></type><html><![CDATA[<div class="fl photobox" style="width:302px;">
<div><a href="http://www.irinnews.org/PhotoDetail.aspx?ImageId=201101190920110567"><img src="https://i2.wp.com/irinnews.org/images/2011/201101190920110567.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a></div>
<div style="font-size:10px;color:#666666;text-align:right;padding:5px;">Photo: <a href="http://www.irinnews.org/photo.aspx">Erica Silverman/IRIN</a></div>
<div style="font-size:11px;color:#333333;padding:5px;">Nayeem  Sbatan stands amid the rubble of his commercial garage in At-Tur, East  Jerusalem, after it was demolished by Israeli authorities on 29 December  2010</div>
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<p>JERUSALEM, 19 January 2011 (IRIN) &#8211; Evictions and house  demolitions are a growing humanitarian concern for Palestinians living  in East Jerusalem, says the UN Office for the Coordination of  Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).</p>
<p>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, <a href="http://www.ochaopt.org/documents/ocha_opt_sheikh_jarrah_factsheet_2010_10_11_english.pdf" target="_blank">OCHA says</a>.</p>
<p>Jerusalem Municipality says it has the right to demolish illegal  structures of any kind under local Israeli municipal law to ensure  residents live in safe, legal homes.</p>
<p>Jerusalem Municipality authorities and the Israeli Nature and Parks  Authority demolished 15 structures in the At-Tur neighbourhood of East  Jerusalem on 29 December, OCHA said, including four residential  structures, a private garage and water and sewage networks. Around 20  hectares of land were levelled and about 200 trees uprooted. Around 60  tons of iron was also reportedly confiscated.</p>
<p>Three of the eight families affected were registered refugees.</p>
<p>According to the municipality, inspectors in cooperation with  Israeli police removed 11 structures and makeshift fences from the  At-Tur area which had been built without permission on public land  designated a national park.</p>
<p>“Signs and notices were posted requesting that the illegal  structures be removed, and only once those requests had gone unheeded,  the municipality decided to act,” according to a statement by the  municipality seen by IRIN.</p>
<p>Nayeem Sbatan, 55, told IRIN his commercial garage, housing 40  vehicles in At-Tur, was demolished without warning by police and  municipal authorities on 29 December, incurring about US$57,000 worth of  damage.</p>
<p>Nayeem, a registered refugee and Jerusalem ID-card holder, lost his  family business on the property he has owned for 18 years. “The natural  resources sector of the municipality said they wanted to clear the  area,” he said.</p>
<p><strong>Overcrowding, poverty</strong></p>
<p>Under the Jerusalem Municipality planning regime, 13 percent of the  land in East Jerusalem is currently zoned for Palestinian construction,  while 35 percent is allocated to Israeli settlements, according to the  European Union (EU). Only within this small area (13 percent) can  Palestinians apply for an Israeli issued permit to build or repair homes  and other livelihood-related structures, which has created a housing  shortage and overcrowding in dilapidated homes.</p>
<p>Seventy-five percent of adults and 83 percent of Palestinian  children in East Jerusalem live below the poverty line, says the EU.</p>
<p>Sayed Abdullah, 60, his wife Muluk, 52, and their 10 children have  been living next to what used to be Nayeem’s business for eight years.  The 29 December demolition destroyed part of the Abdullah family home, a  sanitation network and several water tanks. The family, registered  refugees and Jerusalem ID-card holders, is receiving assistance from UN  Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA).</p>
<table style="border:1px solid #336699;background-color:#aabbdc;width:175px;margin:2px 8px 8px;padding:5px;" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="right">
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<td style="font-family:tahoma;color:#ffffff;" align="left" bgcolor="#aabbdc"><img src="https://i2.wp.com/www.irinnews.org/images/design/quotopen.jpg" border="0" alt="''" height="18" align="left" /><strong>Authorities  from the municipality came on 28 December and gave me an order to  vacate my property in one month, and then demolished my neighbour’s  property the next day</strong><img src="https://i2.wp.com/www.irinnews.org/images/design/quotclose.jpg" border="0" alt="''" height="18" align="absMiddle" /></td>
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<p>“Authorities from the municipality came on 28 December and gave me  an order to vacate my property in one month, and then demolished my  neighbour’s property the next day,” said Sayed.</p>
<p>The UN and its partners are offering temporary shelter to the  displaced. The International Committee of the Red Cross provides tents.  UNRWA provides cash assistance and rent allowances for 3-6 months to  registered refugees.</p>
<p>Seven international and local NGOs are providing support to the  displaced and those at risk such as the Norwegian Refugee Council which  facilitates legal representation for families.</p>
<p><strong>Intensified settler activity</strong></p>
<p>Settler activity in the Palestinian neighbourhoods, which in some  cases has been directly supported by the Israeli government, has  intensified in recent years and is often accompanied by attempts to have  the Palestinian residents forcibly evicted, said OCHA. Likewise, house  demolitions often clear the way for Israeli settlement construction.</p>
<p>Between 2001 and 2009, 37 percent of all settlement housing units in  the occupied Palestinian territory were located in East Jerusalem,  reports the EU.</p>
<p>EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton reiterated last week that  &#8220;the EU does not recognize&#8221; the annexation of East Jerusalem by Israel,  meaning structural changes to the territory are illegal under  international law.</p>
<p>The municipality has introduced a re-zoning plan for the Silwan area  of East Jerusalem, Elie Isaacson, spokesperson for Jerusalem Mayor Nir  Barakat’s office, told IRIN. It will allow the municipality to register  illegal structures and collect overdue taxes.</p>
<p>“The re-zoning plan (which would legalize 75 percent of structures  in the area) is pending approval by the Interior Ministry &#8211; the question  is when,” said Isaacson. He hopes the plan will eventually cover all of  East Jerusalem, including At-Tur. Meanwhile, Barakat’s office has asked  the courts to place a demolition freeze on the Silwan area.</p>
<p>There are 20,000 illegal structures, mostly unsafe and lacking  adequate water and sanitation networks in East Jerusalem. Of the 60,000  structures in all, 40,000 are registered with the municipality,  according to Isaacson.</p>
<p>Structures lacking required permits place 88,000 Palestinians in East Jerusalem at risk, says OCHA.</p>
<p>House demolitions have grave immediate and longer-term physical,  social, economic and emotional effects on Palestinians, according to  UK-based international NGO Save the Children, including increased  poverty, as well as limited access to basic services, such as water,  education and health care.</p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.savethechildren.org.uk/en/54_8431.htm" target="_blank">impact on children</a> has proved particularly devastating, including post-traumatic stress  disorder, depression, anxiety and reduced academic achievement after  children are often forced to change schools.</p>
<p>es/cb</p>
<p><a href="http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportId=91665">IRIN Middle East | OPT: East Jerusalem evictions causing suffering, anguish | OPT | Conflict | Governance | Human Rights | Refugees/IDPs | Urban Risk</a>.</p>
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