Israel Destroys 20 Palestinian Structures in East Jerusalem
Police use riot-control measures to quell protests against destruction of buildings, some beyond the separation barrier in Palestinian locales.
Israeli authorities demolished 20 illegally-built, single- and multi-family homes in East Jerusalem overnight Monday, the most extensive house-demolition in the Palestinian sector of the capital in recent years.
Violent protests carried on through much of the night in the village of Qalandiyah, where most of the demolitions took place. Border Police fired sponge-tipped bullets, stun grenades and tear gas against some of the rioters, but there were no known injuries. Early Tuesday morning the troops accompanied Finance Ministry building inspectors to carry out the remaining demolitions.
“I have been in this business 20 years, and there was never such a widespread operation,” said Ahmad Subalaban, an area coordinator for the NGO Ir Amim, which promotes Jewish-Arab equality in Jerusalem. He added that in the past, “at most they would demolish four or five structures.”
Hassan Salameh, who owns a two-story building in Qalandiyah that was demolished, told Haaretz the demolition order was received only on Monday morning, and that it had been stuck onto the door of the building during the night. “All my brothers, seven families, lived in the building. Not even 12 hours passed from the moment we saw the demolition orders and the time the bulldozers arrived. They destroyed everything, the furniture and everything that was inside. If they had given us warning, we would have had a chance to speak to them, we would have brought all the papers. ... They destroyed my life. What will we do? I’ll stay with my children until we rent an apartment or I’ll put up a tent. I’m in shock,” Salameh said.
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