SALIM'S STORY
Salim Shawamreh was born in the old city of Jerusalem. In 1967 he and his family were forced to move after the 6 day war to a refugee camp in East Jerusalem. Salim married Arabyia in East Jerusalem and they have six children. The refugee camp they were living in was less than ideal and overcrowded. Salim and Arabyia decided to purchase their own land in an East Jerusalem town called Anata to build a home for their family. After purchasing the land they went through the normal measures to attain a building permit. They paid the $5,000 fee but were denied the permit. Since they had already purchased the land they attempted to get the permit again, and paid another $5,000. After being denied a second time they tried a final time paying a total of $15,000 in fees. Salim and Arabyia were never granted a permit. After four years of trying to get a permit, they finally decided to build without one. On August 2, 1998, over 100 soldiers arrived at Salim's house after giving Salim a demolition order. Salim resisted the soldiers when they attempted to remove him and his family out of their home. Salim was beaten by the soldiers. The soldiers tear gassed Arabyia and the children and than dragged them out of the house. Their belongings were thrown outside in heaps, and then they bulldozed the house. Salim and Arabyia were left with their possessions in the yard and no place to call home. The red cross provided the family with a tent and they set it up in their small yard. The Israeli Committee Against Housing Demolition (ICAHD) helped them to rebuild their home on its original foundation. As they were rebuilding the house received another demolition order. One morning Salim and his family awoke in their small tent at gun point. Salim said, “Can you imagine how scared my children were when they woke up to guns?” Their nearly finished home was bulldozed and the soldiers took their tent away to discourage them from rebuilding. Salim and Arabyia decided to rebuild again with the assistance of ICHAD in order to protest their unfair treatment. Yet again their home was demolished a third time along with the foundation. The fourth time they rebuilt they decided to use the building as the headquarters for ICHAD, and it still stands under the name of “Arabyia's House” to this day.
During our interview with Salim handed me a cup full of water to help explain his situation. We had spent the day working alongside of Salim and other ICHAD volunteers to rebuild a house for a different family. It was a hot day and we had been carrying heavy buckets of cement. We were thirsty and the cup of water looked wonderful. When he handed me the cup of water he said the Palestinian feel like they have been given a cup of water that they are eager to drink from, but when they try to take a drink the government says that they can not drink it. What good is a cup of water if you can't drink from it. You can buy the cup of water but you can't drink from the cup.
THE LEGALITIES
Housing demolitions in the West Bank and East Jerusalem are lawful according to Israeli zoning laws created by the Ministry of Interior and the Municipality of Jerusalem. Zoning Laws are created in all parts of the the world. They are an important part of city planning. Zoning in the West Bank was first established by the British in 1942. The British froze building in the West Bank in order to preserve the historic lands of the Bible. They zoned all of the unbuilt areas of the West Bank as Agricultural land even though the majority of it is not fit for farming. At this time the land had ¼ of the population that it has today. In 1967 when Israel annexed the West Bank they retained the zoning laws created by the British even though the population has dramatically increased. In 1993 the Oslo Peace Process created a new 5 year zoning plan that would allow for Palestinians to slowly take possession of the majority of the West Bank. Area A (18% of the land) was created as an area that would be under Palestinian Civil jurisdiction as well as Palestinian security. Area B (22% of the land) was also set up to be under Palestinian civil jurisdiction but security was to be shared by both Israel and Palestine. Area C (60% of the land) was to be under full Israeli control. During the 5 year Oslo Peace Process, Area B was to become A, and Area C was to become area C until the majority of the the West Bank was in full Palestinian control. This process of rezoning never took place due to the Intifada. Israel still has full civil control of area C, and they do not give building permits to Palestinians for this region because they still consider it to be agricultural land.
In the Municipality of Jerusalem a similar situation exists. The size of Jerusalem doubled after the annexation of East Jerusalem in 1967- building was frozen in order to restrict the neighborhoods from expanding. The municipality took control of every area that was not built upon (1/3 of East Jerusalem) and deemed it to be “Open Green Space”. This is a policy that is quite normal in city planning. All cities create green spaces in order to expand their boarders in the future. The green space of East Jerusalem is destructive to Palestinian neighborhoods because it does not allow for the expansion of the growing Palestinian communities.
The “open green space” policy and the area C zoning are the laws creating problems for the Palestinian town of Anata where Salim and his family lived. Part of Anata is considered to be within the municipality of Jerusalem, part of it is considered to be in area B and the other portion is considered to be area C. Salim's house was located right outside of the municipality line and right outside of area B in Area C. He did not know the differences between the areas when he purchased the land. As Salim discovered, If you don't get a building permit, the Ministry of Interior and the Municipality of Jerusalem have the legal authority to demolish your home. In the West Bank and East Jerusalem combined there were 290 housing demolitions in 2005, and 319 demolitions in 2006. There have been a total of 18,000 housing demolitions since 1967.
There is deep division among Israelis, Palestinians, and the international community about the legality of Israel’s zoning and permit system. Proponents and opponents of housing demolition show up in nearly every subgroup of Israeli society and use a variety of rhetorical and ideological tools to support their claims.
Proponents of housing demolition generally do not explicitly advocate the destruction of civilian homes; instead they support the enforcement of Israeli law and land preservation as part of broader ideological arguments. There are two political and social subgroups in Israeli society who tend to tolerate housing demolition: religious Zionists and Israeli nationalists. Religious Zionists, although a diverse group in itself, support reuniting the Jewish people with the Biblical Holy land, which includes East Jerusalem. According to this persepective, land preservation and regulation of building is of utmost importance because the land is considered sacred, inherently holy, and in need of protection.
On the extreme of this perspective is a political and social group called the Gush Emunim, a Haredi subsect. Gush Emunim views the establishment of the State of Israel as a divinely inspired event signifying the Messiah is soon to come. In order to hasten the Messiah’s coming, however, Jews must “redeem” all the land of Judea-Samaria by settling there. In this view, Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations to expand Palestinian settlements in the East Jerusalem or to create a Palestinian state would be contrary to the will of God and should not be permitted. Instead, the Jewish government should be focused on expanding its influence and territorial gains into the West Bank.
Israeli nationalists also oppose giving up East Jerusalem, but not for religious or messianic reasons. Israeli nationalists support the expansion of the State of Israeli into the disputed territories because of a deep reverence for Jewish history, culture, and ancient connection to the land. And because Palestine is not an organized State, Israel should expand its influence there so the Jewish people can be better connected to their Biblical heritage. In regard to East Jerusalem, they believe the annexation in 1967 was entirely legitimate and that Israel has a right to manage the land as they wish. Because of the importance of uniting the Jewish people to their Biblical land, Nationalists tend to believe there “can be no Zionism without a Zion”[1], and which is why the land in and around East Jerusalem is so important.
Although these two groups do not outright condone treating people as Salim’s family was treated, they tend to support the system of zoning and permits because it promotes their broader ideological goals of expanding Jewish presence in the West Bank and preserving the land. It is exactly these ideological claims that are behind the State of Israel’s annexation and legislation in Palestine.
Opponents of housing demolition are drawn from a diverse collection of subgroups within Israeli society including Religious Jews, Israeli politicians, Israeli Academics, Arab-Palestinians, and international NGO’s. The main thrust of their arguments goes back to the Six Day war of 1967 and the belief that the annexation of East Jerusalem was an unjust violation of international law. According to UN resolution 242 of 1967, Israel must withdrawal “from territories occupied in the recent conflict,” referring to East Jerusalem. With great respect for international law, critics of housing demolition claim that although the permit and zoning system is technically legal according to Israeli law, Israel is illegally occupying the territory, thus nullifying its legislation and enforcement.
A second popular argument of anti-housing demolitionists is that the permit system should be protested even if it is legal because it is unjust. Following the tradition of Martin Luther King and the civil rights movement, many believe “an unjust law is no law at all” (MLK). Jeff Halper, co-founder of the Israeli Committee Against Housing Demolition argues the zoning and permit system of the Israeli government is unjust to the Arab population and violates their basic universal rights. For example, he explains Israel’s zoning of East Jerusalem in 1967 suffocated many Arab villages by surrounding them with green zones or agricultural land. This prevents the natural expansion of Arab villages, inhibits economic growth, and frustrates attempts to unite the Palestinian people. Furthermore, permits are given out discriminately to Jews instead of Arabs. Agricultural land and green space is regularly rezoned to accommodate Jewish settlements or Israeli government infrastructure. According to anti-housing demolitionists, this is a violation of equal political rights of the Arab-Israelis and is not based on notions of sacred Human Rights.
There is no easy solution to the conflict over housing demolition. Both sides have fervent ideological reasons for their positions and believe they are fighting for a worthy cause. Salim’s story, however, reminds us that behind every political debate are the lives of the many affected by the decisions of the few. Salim gives a glimpse into what Israeli policy in the Disputed territories can mean for the average Arab. Many of Israel’s policies are driven by security imperatives and Jewish theology, which often take precedent over the consideration of Arab rights. For this reason, Israel’s policies must be carefully examined to determine their overall affect on humanity, not just that of the Jewish populous.
Sources:
-Interview with Salim Shawamreh – victim of housing demolitions in East Jerusalem
-Interview with Jeff Halper– Co-founder of Israeli Committee Against Housing Demolition, Author of “An Israeli in Palestine”. Nominated by the AFSC for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006. Serves on the steering committee of the UN Conference on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People.
-Informal speech by Dr. Meir Margalit, PhD – Researcher of the history of the Jewish community in Palestine during period of the British mandate and a founder of the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions. Born in Argentina and moved to Israel with a right-wing Zionist youth group in 1972. Founded a Jewish settlement in Gaza and he fought and was injured in the Yom Kippur War of 1973. During his recovery he changed his views. He was a member in the Jerusalem City Council, for the Meretz Party between 1998 and 2002.
