<?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[ei: Jerusalem evictions, demolitions leave lasting&nbsp;trauma]]></title><type><![CDATA[link]]></type><html><![CDATA[<p><span class="text14">Report, <em>The Electronic Intifada,</em> 20 January 2011</p>
<p><span class="content"> </span></span></p>
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<td><span class="text11">Nayeem Sbatan stands amid the rubble of  his commercial garage in al-Tur, occupied East Jerusalem, after it was  demolished by Israeli authorities on 29 December 2010. (Erica  Silverman/IRIN)</span></td>
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<p><span class="text14"><span class="content"><br />
Occupied East Jerusalem (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, OCHA says.</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 al-Tur neighborhood of  occupied 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 leveled and about two hundred trees  uprooted. Around sixty 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 al-Tur area  which had been built without permission on public land designated a  national park.</p>
<p>&#8220;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,&#8221; according to a statement by the  municipality seen by IRIN.</p>
<p>Nayeem Sbatan, 55, told IRIN his commercial garage, housing forty  vehicles in al-Tur, was demolished without warning by police and  municipal authorities on 29 December, incurring about $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. &#8220;The natural  resources sector of the municipality said they wanted to clear the  area,&#8221; he said.</p>
<p><strong>Overcrowding, poverty</strong></p>
<p>Under the Jerusalem Municipality planning regime, 13 percent of the land  in occupied 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 ten children have been  living next to what used to be Nayeem&#8217;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 the  UN agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA).</p>
<p>&#8220;Authorities from the municipality came on 28 December and gave me an  order to vacate my property in one month, and then demolished my  neighbor&#8217;s property the next day,&#8221; 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 three to six months to  registered refugees.</p>
<p>Seven international and local nongovernmental organizations (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 neighborhoods 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 rezoning plan for the Silwan area of  occupied East Jerusalem, Elie Isaacson, spokesperson for Jerusalem Mayor  Nir Barakat&#8217;s office, told IRIN. It will allow the municipality to  register illegal structures and collect overdue taxes.</p>
<p>&#8220;The rezoning plan [which would legalize 75 percent of structures in the  area] is pending approval by the Interior Ministry &#8212; the question is  when,&#8221; said Isaacson. He hopes the plan will eventually cover all of  occupied East Jerusalem, including al-Tur. Meanwhile, Barakat&#8217;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 occupied 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 occupied 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 impact on children 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><em>This item comes to you via IRIN, a UN humanitarian news and  information service, but may not necessarily reflect the views of the  United Nations or its agencies. All IRIN material may be reposted or  reprinted free-of-charge; refer to the <a href="http://www.irinnews.org/copyright.aspx" target="_blank">copyright page</a> for conditions of use. IRIN is a project of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.</em></span></p>
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<p>via <a href="http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article11739.shtml">ei: Jerusalem evictions, demolitions leave lasting trauma</a>.</p>
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