House demolitions in Jerusalem continue unabated.

[Tom Joad]

House demolitions in Jerusalem continue unabated.
http://stopthewall.org/latestnews/1082.shtml

Occupation bulldozers arrived in Ein Lozeh in Silwan (Jerusalem) on the morning of January the 16th and attacked the house of Ahmed al Raziq. Al-Raziq’s modest property consisted of a single 75 square meter room. He had built a small structure above the entrance to the property in order to prevent the house from decaying. Occupation Forces used this as a pretext for demolishing his house, stating they had not given permission for the structure to be built on Ahmed’s property.

The contingent of Soldiers that arrived declared the area a “closed military zone”, and forced Ahmed and his wife to leave. The local community was barred from the property and unable to assist the elderly couple as they were forced out of their home. Ahmed’s wife is 60 years old and suffers from cancer, while he suffers from breathing difficulties. They were forced to watch the house rendered inhabitable as the bulldozers moved in to demolish the crucial support for the house.

Zionist aggression in Silwan has escalated in recent years. The neighborhood, which lies immediately outside the walls of the Old City, saw two buildings containing 12 flats stormed by a gang of settlers in March 2004. In 2005, 122 properties were targeted by the Occupation for demolition, in order to facilitate settlement expansion throughout the area. Until now, 40 houses have been destroyed. Life inside the Palestinian capital is increasingly unbearable with entire communities and neighbourhoods being isolated, subjected to exorbitant taxes, and prohibited from building new houses. With 181 km of Apartheid Wall being constructed throughout the city, the pressures upon Palestinian life are creating a new Nakba in Jerusalem.
_______________________________________________________

From http://www.savesilwan.org/ (scroll down for english)

Silwan, the southern neighbourhood of Arab East Jerusalem, is home to many generations of Palestinian families, and is today threatened by scores of official Israeli demolition orders. The destruction of countless buildings and residences effectively means the forcible transfer and inevitable destitution of at least one thousand Palestinian civilians. To the Israeli government, the obliteration of Silwan and its residents is simply one more stepping stone towards the ultimate goal of a “de-Arabized” Jerusalem; the next stage will see the demolition of yet another Arab neighbourhood of East Jerusalem, Baidoun (south of the Old City’s Dung Gate). Where Silwani homes have not been wrecked, they have been seized and stolen; to date, 130 homes in the Wadi Helweh area of Silwan have been taken over.
__________________________________________________
This story calls out for action and response. And I have questions.
How can we help Palesitinians, whose homes are vulnerable to the destruction by the Isreali military and government soldiers, feel, and actually be, secure in their homes?
Is this the latest initiative of the Israeli govt in the peace process? Is there a possibility here that this move might be counter-productive to achieve peace and trust? How does this help the security of Israeli Jews?
This news story tells of one home destroyed, yet the homes of over 1,000 residents are slated to be razed. Is there anything we can do? See more here http://www.ramallahonline.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=2222

[Name removed]

1. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Tom Joad]

2. not a matter of choosing ethnic groups, it is a matter of choosing justice

[bemildred]

3. Indeed.

:thumbsup:

[DemInDistress]

4. TOM..justice for whom..I hope you mean the Palestinians..

for they continue to be screwed,robbed and murdered. I'm sick and tired. it seems they have taken a page out of the nazi playbook. TAKE WHAT YOU WANT...KILL WITH GLEE. FOR OVER 50 YEARS I SYMPATHIZED WITH JEWS. Each year MSM reminds me of the despicable nazi killing machine,well those days are over for me even if DU kicks me out. ITS OUTRAGEOUS when will it end? when the arabs are all dead and if so,baby the body count will be 10 figures,,
ANGER OVERWHELMS ME TODAY....

[Tom Joad]

Justice is for everybody. Or nobody.

again, it is those who oppose justice for Palestinians who often insist that one must "choose an ethnic group" to "sympathize with". Hell, neither Jews or Palestinians need our "sympathy", we need to choose to act justly, to demand our government act wisely in the interests of fairness. In this case it certainly means we insist the US demand that Israel not demolish Silwan.

DU does not need someone overwhelmed with anger. Get over it and do something constructive.

[DemInDistress]

7. get over it you say...when hell freezes over,,,,

this shit has escalated. has been going on now for 10 years I know of..will the jews now build condo's upon that newly created space? sorry tom, my anger runneth over. I may be over the line here at DU, and I found a home here that I grown fond of and wont you know it the jewish issue may get me kicked out...no tom...not today

[Colorado Blue]

15. OK, here's an angry Jew. Your comments are indeed

offensive.

The situation in Jerusalem is complicated. There is much that is simply a matter of housing code violations. In other cases, the path for the security barrier runs through certain neighborhoods. In still others, if egregious human rights violations are being committed, I would protest as well.

But it is hardly a matter, as you put it, of a "Jewish situation," rather one of a complex and difficult political and security issue as well as a conflict between a growing modern infrastructure and houses that just don't meet code.

Meanwhile there are various opinions in Israel about whether to try and maintain the city whole, which would be desirable as most nations don't have to share their capitols with their enemies - which the election of Hamas has now made official; or on the other hand respect the fact that part of the city is Arab majority and should be ceded to the Arabs as a Palestinian capitol, rather than trying to incorporate it willy-nilly into Israel's capitol. A recent poll taken in Israel indicates that a majority in fact supports the latter option.

Therefore, in my opinion you have expressed a deeply biased and also somewhat unscholarly point of view. The "jewish issue"? Oh my god. That sounds like something out of Nazi Germany. I hope you'll reflect.

[Tom Joad]

17. Blue, we are talking about destroying people's homes.

I want this thread to stay on that subject. For progressive people, this is not a "complicated issue".

I agree that the post that sought to paint this as an ethnic issue is not counter-productive and wrong.

To get back to the issue at hand... how do you think the people of Silwan, who have resided in these homes for generations, think of being ethnically cleansed. Please work with us to save these people's homes. Progressive groups, including Jewish Voice for Peace and Tikkun, are working with us in the Bay Area to save these homes... it is a very clear issue for them... because they are progressive. They do not see a whole ethnic group as "enemies".

If you wish to support the demolition and ethnic cleansing of Jerusalem (I hope you don't), that is your problem. However, don't do it here. This is a progressive board.

[Colorado Blue]

18. Uh huh. I realize that. But I have also heard from the

other side, from a mother in Israel:

"(Does Tom realize) that people of the Israeli side of the wall have had their homes violated by gunmen shooting women and children? That the terrorist group that has just won the paliamentary majority in the elections has committed mass-murder on buses hundreds of times?

People can move to new homes they do it all the time. There is nothing inhumane about urban change and urban re-location. This is not a US politcal issue, It is a strategy to save the lives of children in Israel."

As I said, this isn't a simple issue of evil Jews - I mean - evil Israelis - deliberately trying to hurt simple Arabs.

Putting these issues in black and white terms, ignoring the other side of the coin - in this case - other SIDES of the coin - merely increases the misunderstanding. And right now that is all we need. More biased rhetoric, more misunderstand, with Hamas officially in office and refusing to recognize Israel.

Swell.

And as you see it is in fact spilling over into outright antisemitism, which is what caused the whole damn problem in the first place.

There is NOTHING PROGRESSIVE about simple-minded flag-waving rhetoric.

Finally, I'd like to ask this: is change per se an evil thing? Urban renewal projects uproot populations in the US all the time. Properties are condemned as unsafe. In fact, we have outright urban warfare going on right here.

This situation isn't unique to Jerusalem, yet here on this and on many other related threads, we have people reading only ONE side of the story, condemning Jews (and Israel) as bad or good based on only ONE viewpoint of complicated situations, and drawing conclusions, again based on only one point of view.

That isn't progressive at all.

And please do not read my statements here as a declaration of heartlessness. Instead, they are a declaration that I can see more than one point of view, that I care about Israeli lives as well as Palestinian lives.

As should you.

[Violet_Crumble]

23. As that mother from Israel is clearly no progressive...

I'm not sure what posting her words is supposed to prove. After all, what sort of progressive uses the weak excuse of revenge to justify the destruction of innocent people's homes? That woman in Israel is a kindred spirit of members of Islamic Jihad, etc, who also use the revenge excuse to justify what they do...

Refusing to agree with disgusting points of view that support harming civilians in this conflict is NOT 'reading only ONE side of the story', nor is it 'condemning Jews (and Israel) as good or bad'.

Nothing about that point of view is the slightest bit progressive, and I honestly do think there's a large amount of inability to feel any empathy with Palestinian civilians feeding that particular point of view. It's a disgusting one that no-one here at DU should ever try to justify...

Sickening...

Violet...

[Tom Joad]

24. It is called collective punishment. It is illegal under int'l law.

So when a govt targets a whole neighborhood for demolition, or puts a city under a curfew that destroys it, or cuts off water supplies, or any of these things, it is collective punishment.

when an armed group targets civilians in a cafe or a bus, because they are of another ethnic group, then it is targeting civilians, and it is illegal under international law.

[Violet_Crumble]

25. Yeah, it is...

And I've got no time or tolerance for anyone who would try to justify either thing by claiming that people who oppose them aren't looking at all angles of the conflict...

Violet...

[Colorado Blue]

50. Right. What about attacks on innocent civilians? Because

they're members of another ethnic group, religion or nationality? That isn't illegal? Or wrong?

I don't see why you can't see the rationale here, especially in cases where the security fence is involved.

This is especially true now that Hamas has been elected. This isn't a game.

[Violet_Crumble]

52. Tom said it was illegal under international law...

It's there clear as day in the post yr replying to...

Violet...

[Tom Joad]

55. It's clear that some of us have no problem condemning all attacks

against civilians. Others hesitate. Obfuscate. Postulate with hypotheticals that have nothing to do (admittedly) with the subject at hand.

I think saving the Silwan community is about not only saving Palestine, but Israel as well.

Destroying African-American communities never helped White America (except for an elite... but even for them it was in the end really a losing proposition). For those White folks who sought to extend justice for everyone, it was a liberating experience. They became just another human, rather than just "white", they became a person with no less worth, but no more either.

It is really unfortunate that we are not all on the same side here. Some folks seem to be grasping at air to make every effort to believe (I think for the sake of their own comfort, as much as to attempt to convince others) that this policy of massive home demolitions has some rational, humane explanation. That what the whole world can see plainly is not really what is happening. Not unlike those people who still believe the emperor is wearing fine clothes.

It just seems some people's self-identity is tied up in what the actions of a political entity. Bush attempts to do that with keeping people thinking that his policies of imperialism, is America's policies, and therefore if you dissent, you are a traitor to your country, and even to yourself. Typical nationalist nonsense. It is right to rebel.

Let's see what we can do to save Silwan.

[Englander]

58. Post #24 already answers that question.

Post #24, the post yer replying to, here, already answers yer question.
You're asking a question that's already been answered.

[Englander]

41. Ugh. "Urban renewal projects"?

God, that's utterly repugnant, yer describing these demolitions as "urban change"?
These demolitions are illegal, they're "soft" ethnic cleansing, & yer using an
euphemism such as "urban change" to describe them!?! Bloody. Hell.

That's not being balanced, or seeing "more than one point of view", that's being
slightly clueless, & only believing repugnant propaganda!

___________________________


'Israelis Act to Encircle East Jerusalem

By John Ward Anderson
Washington Post Foreign Service
Monday, February 7, 2005; Page A15

JERUSALEM -- The Israeli government and private Jewish groups are working in concert to build a human cordon around Jerusalem's Old City and its disputed holy sites, moving Jewish residents into Arab neighborhoods to consolidate their grip on strategic locations, according to critics of the effort and a Washington Post investigation.

The goal is to establish Jewish enclaves in and around Arab-dominated East Jerusalem and eventually link them to form a ring around the city, a key battleground in the decades-long Israeli-Palestinian conflict because of its Jewish and Muslim holy sites, according to activists involved in the effort and critics of the campaign.

The Israeli government has sometimes violated its own laws and regulations to advance the encircling effort, the Post investigation found. Critics of the plan charge that the government is subsidizing and protecting Jewish groups that are deliberately scuttling peace efforts by establishing Jewish enclaves in overwhelmingly Palestinian neighborhoods.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A3263-2005Feb6?language=printer

________________________________



Legal status of East Jerusalem and its residents

Between 1948 and June of 1967, Jerusalem was divided in two: West Jerusalem, which covered an area of about 38 square kilometers was under Israeli control, and East Jerusalem, which contained an area of some 6 sq. km, was ruled by Jordan. In June 1967, following the Six-Day War, Israel annexed some 70 sq. km to the municipal boundaries of West Jerusalem, and imposed Israeli law there. These annexed territories included not only the part of Jerusalem that had been under Jordanian rule, but also an additional 64 square kilometers, most of which had belonged to 28 villages in the West Bank, and part of which belonged to the municipalities of Bethlehem and Beit Jala. Following their annexation, the area of West Jerusalem tripled, and Jerusalem became the largest city in Israel.

Prior to 1967, therefore, most of the area comprising present-day Jerusalem was not part of the city (West or East), but rather part of the West Bank. The new borders, set by a committee headed by General Rehavam Ze'evi, then-assistant to the head of the Operations Branch of the Israel Defense Forces' General Staff, were approved by Israel's government.

In setting the borders, the committee's objective was to strengthen Israeli sovereignty over the city by creating a Jewish majority. Thus, demographic considerations were decisive, and planning considerations were only of secondary importance. In order to ensure a significant Jewish majority, the primary consideration was to prevent the inclusion of heavily-populated Palestinian areas within Jerusalem. Whereas several Palestinian villages were placed outside the city, some of their lands were included within the city's new borders, examples being Beit Iksa and Beit Hanina, in the north, and detached areas lying in the municipalities of Bethlehem and Beit Sahur, in the south. Villages and neighborhoods were, therefore, divided; one part remained in the West Bank, and the other part was annexed by Israel.

After the annexation, Israel conducted a census in these areas, and granted permanent residency status to residents in the annexed areas present at the time the census was taken. Persons not present in the city for whatever reason forever lost their right to reside in Jerusalem. Permanent residents were permitted, if they wished and met certain conditions, to receive Israeli citizenship. These conditions included swearing allegiance to the State, proving that they are not citizens of any other country, and showing some knowledge of Hebrew. For political reasons, most of the residents did not request Israeli citizenship. Setting the municipal boundary to run through neighborhoods and villages also created a distinction between Palestinians regarding their rights, since residents living in the unannexed area continued to be residents of the West Bank, and were subject to military rule.

Palestinians hold the status of "permanent resident" of the State of Israel. This is the same status granted to foreign citizens who have freely chosen to come to Israel and want to live there. Israel treats Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem as immigrants, who live in their homes at the beneficence of the authorities and not by right. The authorities maintain this policy although these Palestinians were born in Jerusalem, lived in the city, and have no other home. Treating these Palestinians as foreigners who entered Israel is astonishing, since it was Israel that entered East Jerusalem in 1967.

Permanent residency differs substantially from citizenship. The primary right granted to permanent residents is to live and work in Israel without the necessity of special permits. Permanent residents are also entitled to social benefits provided by the National Insurance Institute and to health insurance. Permanent residents have the right to vote in local elections, but not in elections to Knesset . Unlike citizenship, permanent residency is only passed on to the holder's children where the holder meets certain conditions. A permanent resident with a non-resident spouse must submit, on behalf of the spouse, a request for family unification. Only citizens are granted the right to return to Israel at any time.

http://www.btselem.org/english/Jerusalem/Legal_Status.asp


_____________________________________________


Thursday, 9 June, 2005


Jerusalem demolitions 'on hold'
By Barbara Plett
BBC News, Jerusalem

>snip

But anti-demolition activists said the project was part of an ongoing Israeli policy to make occupied East Jerusalem more Jewish by clearing out Palestinians to make room for Jewish settlers.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4078260.stm

[Englander]

60. ~~

[Coastie for Truth]

21. I'm in the Bay Area, too

And I have several points to pick with you--

Some posts on I/P are excessively incendiary and turn off natural supporters.

"Jewish Issue" - that is a code word that is used by hate groups. It is as much as code word as "neighborhood schools" was thirty years ago. As a Bay Area Progressive, I am surprised you didn't pick up on that.

"Ethnic cleansing" - it is going on right now. The American Nakba started on August 29, 2005 - and I first learned that it was actually a Nakba - with relocation sites determined by political and electoral considerations on September 10. I was an Mineta Airport (SJC) on September 10 - and the refugees never came - YOUR Gubernator, Arnold Boobengrabber (to quote Bernie Ward) didn't want our Nakba victims upsetting his special election. We got our American Nakba victims here and resettled into our Bay Area community - with a lot of help and leadership from a coalition led by Rev Cecil Williams (Glide Methodist Church).

And, just the week before Christmas I had to help one of these families when there was a fire in their rented apartment -- and they still had PTSD from the Nabka of Katrina.


What do you do for our American Nabka victims of Katrina - many of them have family ties to New Orleans going back to the end of the Civil War (my wife taught in the Lower Ninth Ward).


By the way, I did sign the petition - but I typed in the URL from my browser - because I know a little bit about TCP/IP and HTML; and I do daven at Beyt Tikkun, and I do contribute to Aaron David Miller's Seed of Peace -- and its predecessors.

[Tom Joad]

27. That is a step in the right direction.

Please Coastie, I am not the one who used the term "Jewish Issue", in fact, I am the one who said it was not, that it was a matter of justice, basic fairness, that needs to be shared by all. I did pick up on it.

As for "ethnic cleansing"... Those of us who are working in Palestine solidarity groups do see the obvious connection between what the US is doing to the people in New Orleans, the unbenign neglect of poor neighborhoods in cities across America, and US support for an even more blantant crime in this neighborhood in Jerusalem. (It is bad enough for a govt to say it is not going to rebuild certain homes that were destroyed in a natural disaster, it is another thing to for a govt. to say they are going to demolish perfectly usable homes that are still standing)

Your direct experience with these folks from New Orleans must make you even more acutely aware of the trauma these folks in Jerusalem will suffer if this is carried out.

So let's take steps to save this neighborhood. I think Coastie took one such step by signing that petition. And the Seeds of Peace... great stuff has come out of that.

[Jim Sagle]

29. Oh, is that what that putrid stench is? Anger? I can smell it

clear across the web.

[Tom Joad]

31. What about the homes in Silwan? How can we save them from demolition?

[Violet_Crumble]

32. Jim openly supports the destruction of innocent peoples homes...

See post #30 where the same logic is used as is used to justify attacks on Israeli civilians. Totally sickening and it's disgusting to see on a progressive forum...

Violet...

[Tom Joad]

34. That is disturbing, but let's not let that distract us. Our task here

is to stop these demolitions. We know there are a few folks who support it. Just a fringe group.

[Coastie for Truth]

35. Hypothetical question

What about a house that is used as a situs of clear (beyond a reasonable doubt, statutorily defined) terrorist activity (repeated bomb assembly, repeated safe house).

Since it is a "hypothetical" - assume:
1. Proof "beyond reasonable doubt"
2. Substantive due process
3. Procedural due process
4. Trial of fact plus at least one appeal

(Tom - yes I am setting you up - these are the facts of "civil forfeiture" drug and contraband laws - you will concede that IEDs and bombs are "contraband" -- 9th Circuit Court of Appeals and California Supreme Court have upheld these laws - no due process issues)

I have deliberately taken "zoning and planning and building code" frivolous prosecutions out of the picture, and also eminent domain for the barrier. Clear bomb factory safe house - period.

Would such a "seizure" be lawful?

[Tom Joad]

37. Not the claim of the Israeli govt. for silwan.

If the Israeli govt never claimed that the 88 homes of ONE THOUSAND people are being destroyed because all of them (or even claimed that ONE of them) were being destroyed for that reason. What has that got to do with Silwan?

[Englander]

38. Fa, I'd say.

I'd say that the questions by coastie have fa to do with Silwan. I can't see
how it was relevant, at all.

[Name removed]

43. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Englander]

44. Thanks for admitting that the hypothetical q. was irrelevant.

--I was not asking about Silwan.--

Are there any posts that do, actually, deal with the relevant subject?
The demolition of homes in occupied East Jerusalem, in case you've forgotten.

[Englander]

45. When did this happen? Who did it?

Who was the villainous cur who made such an absurdist accusation?

--Note to another appender: I was not equating Palestinian to terrorist, as you accused me of --

[Coastie for Truth]

46. Read the links

Englander (1000+ posts)
Thu Jan-26-06 11:33 PM
Response to Reply #35
39. That's completely irrelevant,


But, great job at insinuating Palestinian-automatically = terrorwist.Dershie would be proud, I'm shure.

Nevermind the hypotheticals, what about the *actual* illegality of destroying dozens of people's homes? One can only conclude that you support the action of the GoI, is that correct? I cannot see any comments in this thread that deal with this issue, that would make an objective viewer conclude what yer views are on this matter.

emphasis added

"Forfeiture" of the tools of the crime and of the fruits of the crime has been part of Your Common Law for over 800 years.

BTW - the original append

Hypothetical question


What about a house that is used as a situs of clear (beyond a reasonable doubt, statutorily defined) terrorist activity (repeated bomb assembly, repeated safe house).

Since it is a "hypothetical" - assume:
1. Proof "beyond reasonable doubt"
2. Substantive due process
3. Procedural due process
4. Trial of fact plus at least one appeal

(Tom - yes I am setting you up - these are the facts of "civil forfeiture" drug and contraband laws - you will concede that IEDs and bombs are "contraband" -- 9th Circuit Court of Appeals and California Supreme Court have upheld these laws - no due process issues)

I have deliberately taken "zoning and planning and building code" frivolous prosecutions out of the picture, and also eminent domain for the barrier. Clear bomb factory safe house - period.

Would such a "seizure" be lawful?

You may want to look at in the . This is a standard weapon in the "drug war".

My gosh, in our primitive, frontier land you can even demolish a house to make way for higher real estate tax structures which is much less compelling then the tools or fruits of a crime.


I NEVER SAID THAT I SUPPORTED HOUSING DEMOLITION FOR
(1) CHANGING DEMOGRAPHICS
(2) FRIVOLOUS ARGUMENTS OF NON-COMPLIANCE WITH ZONING (AS IN THE AHMED AL-RAZIQ FACT SET)

[Englander]

49. Can I have that translated into English, please? n/t

[Englander]

39. That's completely irrelevant,

But, great job at insinuating Palestinian-automatically = terrorwist.
Dershie would be proud, I'm shure.

Nevermind the hypotheticals, what about the *actual* illegality of destroying
dozens of people's homes? One can only conclude that you support the action of
the GoI, is that correct? I cannot see any comments in this thread that deal with
this issue, that would make an objective viewer conclude what yer views are on
this matter.

[Colorado Blue]

51. Why don't you just answer Coastie's question?

[Violet_Crumble]

53. Because it's irrelevant and has zero to do with this thread...

n/t

[Englander]

56. That's it, absolutely.

--Because it's irrelevant and has zero to do with this thread--
is the answer to CB's question.

[Englander]

57. See post #56.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=124&topic_id=113126&mesg_id=113798

[idontwantaname]

5. families and their homes

for many palestinians the home is a home to generations of a family... for each new generation a level gets added onto the home.

when a home gets destroyed it leaves many people homeless... and more often than not it is done in such a careless manner that surrounding homes get damaged... and they may be demolished as a result.

[Tom Joad]

6. Yes, we have to understand that this about so much more than mere

"real estate". The purpose of the demolitions is to demolish hope, to show the only option is to surrunder to the fate of becoming a refugee, of dispossession. Palestinians, for generations, have not accepted this forced displacement.

The question remains, can we do something, as US citizens (most of us fit in that category). The answer is yes, we can. Contact your congressperson and demand action. Contact the Israeli consulate near you, and demand answers. PM me and we can discuss this. Despite the setback this post shows, it is not the end of the struggle.

"Under the worst possible circumstances, Palestinian society has neither been defeated nor has it crumbled completely. Kids still go to school, doctors and nurses still take care of their patients, men and women go to work, organizations have their meetings, and people continue to live, which seems to be an offense to Sharon and the other extremists who simply want Palestinians either imprisoned or driven away altogether." Edward Said

[EFerrari]

9. If someone really knew these vulnerable communities,

they could help us identify a school to adopt or a women's club or even a town. The more the world interacts with these communities, the harder it becomes to isolate them from witnesses and destroy them.

[Tom Joad]

10. We can help Silwan. Action has already been initiated.

We can help Silwan. We need to contact our congresspeople to ask them to take steps to call for an accounting of the situation. Even if there are disagreements about the wider question of Israeli policy, or US relation to that policy, we can insist that this issue be addressed. This bulldozing of a community is all US funded, there should be accountability. Congresswoman Lee (yay, Barbara!)of Oakland has already done some work in this regard, we hope to get more to follow suit.

[EFerrari]

11. I will call Nancy and ask about this. Barbara is a blessing.

:)

[Matilda]

59. For the past two years, my church has been visited by an Arab Christian

from Bethlehem. He has told us of a Catholic school there which was
established to care for mentally and physically handicapped Arab
Christian children. The town is now surrounded on three sides the
Wall, and shortly the remaining side will cut it off completely, unless
people are willing to spend about three hours walking from Jerusalem
and going through numerous checkpoints on the way.

Because many Palestinians have already left Bethlehem, funds to support
the school are drying up, and the children have been making ornaments
and religious objects from olive wood to sell to help keep their school
open. This man has taken it upon himself to take all the craftwork he
can and sell it to raise funds on their behalf.

Although this man visits many churches in Sydney and sells all
his product (they are really beautiful pieces, and if they're not
perfect, it makes them all the more precious), it's a drop in the
bucket and the future doesn't look promising.

I mention this because often hearing about something personal conveys
much more of the picture than lots of abstract figures. And when an
important town like Bethlehem is becoming deserted, you know that
things are very bad there.

[Violet_Crumble]

61. Thanks for sharing that, Matilda...

Yr right. Putting a real face on something gives a much better picture than any figures or statistics or dry articles discussing the political aspect of the conflict could do...

Violet...

[Wordie]

8. So tragic. When will it end?

Jerusalem needs to be an international city, with an international police force...or this will never end.

[Coastie for Truth]

22. Brit Tzedek v'Shalom, - Bring Them Home

I did sign the , the Jewish Alliance for Justice and Peace petition in your earlier append - but I typed in the URL from my browser - because I know a little bit about TCP/IP and HTML ;).

So, when you and Tom come over to the Peninsula - you dudes have to buy me a Latte (Chocolate-Cinnamon Grande with two shots of espresso)

[Wordie]

40. Coastie, I can't tell you how impressed I am that you did that. :) eom

[Violet_Crumble]

54. Yeah, Coastie gets some kudos from me for that as well...

It's a marked contrast from the reaction of one or two others in this thread...

Violet...

[radio4progressives]

12. K&R & BK'd Thanks for posting this..

:kick: :thumbsup:

[radio4progressives]

13. oops, didn't know we can't nominate threads in this forum, how weird.

:shrug:

[Violet_Crumble]

26. Most of the time it doesn't matter too much...

..but there are some threads I wish I could nominate. This'd be one of them, for sure...

Violet...

[Scurrilous]

14. Three Good Jews and One Christian in Jerusalem

<snip>

"Next to the McDonald’s in West Jerusalem is the office of Jeff Halper, Coordinator of ICAHD: The Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions. http://www.icahd.org

Jeff looks like a cross between Jerry Garcia and Santa Clause and grew up in Hibbing, Minnesota and actually knew Dylan when he was still Zimmerman! Bob is five years older than Jeff and he remembers Bob, “As always quiet, reserved and normal. He came to my high school graduation. His dad had wanted Bob to be a Dr. but later admitted: ‘How was I to know he would become Leonard Bernstein?’

Jeff stated that there was something about Israel that spoke to him and so he moved from the USA in 1973 and in 1997 established ICAHD: The Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions.

“It was at the time when the Oslo peace plan collapsed and the occupation reasserted itself. Many Israeli peace activists began asking Palestinians what the best way to engage with each other was and the answer was blowing in the wind: 'STOP the home demolitions!"

more

[Colorado Blue]

16. The term "Good Jews" - whoa.

Need I explain why THAT is offensive?

[Tom Joad]

19. Jeff Halper and the ICAHD group are a great asset to those

who want real peace.
See the article here for the story on Silwan. (and a photo of Jerry Garcia look-alike!)
Note in the article, excerpted below, the presence of a large number of diplomats. This solidarity is the only thing that has saved this neighborhood.

http://www.icahd.org/eng/news.asp?menu=5&submenu=1&item=236

On Thursday June 2nd, ICAHD’s field coordinator Meir Margalit led a tour of Silwan (Jerusalem), where the Jerusalem municipality plans to demolish the entire neighborhood of el-Bustan, which includes 88 homes housing 1,000 residents. Over 20 diplomats and consular officials from such countries as Germany, France, Australia, and Ireland along with 40 Members of the media were in attendance at the 2 hour program, which commenced at the protest tent that sits at the sight of recent demolitions in the neighborhood of el-Bustan.

At the tent, children whose homes are slated for demolition held up placards with the number that the municipality has assigned to their homes (pictured here). The numbers were meant to represent how the municipality denies their very existence and dehumanizes the families by referring to their homes as mere numbers. But the children holding the signs put real human faces on the municipality’s planned destruction. Once in the tent, the Palestinian Authority Minister of Jerusalem Affairs, Hind Khoury, addressed the participants along with Fathi abu Diab, the head of the acting committee in el-Bustan.

[EFerrari]

20. 88 homes housing 1000 residents.

:eyes:

[Scurrilous]

42. Reply #5:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=124&topic_id=113126&mesg_id=113134

[Violet_Crumble]

28. I can safely assume US diplomats didn't attend?

Good to see that someone from Australia turned up :)

Violet...

[Tom Joad]

36. Yes, and i am sure more pressure can be asserted from Aus. to make sure

this demolition does not occur. Israel has to listen to global criticism, because they really want to be part of the globalization scene. So even if Israel does not want aid from Australia, like it gets from the US, they want to make sure they don't lose that market, don't have bad PR, or at least minimize it.

So if you get together with like-minded folks to spread the word about this, perhaps you can pressure an MP to send a letter to the Israeli consulate. Most of these homes are still standing because of that pressure.

There may not have been US diplomats at this particular protest attended ICAHD, but we know because we asked Congresswoman Barbara Lee to intervene for us, some diplomats have been bringing this up with the Israeli government. So this has also probably weighed on the minds of Israeli decision makers.

[Violet_Crumble]

48. Thanks, Tom...

I'm going to get in touch with the like-minded folk I know are here and see if a letter can be sent to the Israeli embassy...

Violet...

[Jim Sagle]

30. When the Palestinian side stops targetting Israeli civilians for death,

the demolitions will stop. Until then, blame them - except on Opposite Day.

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

33. But that is not terrorism...

yeah...

:sarcasm:

[RJnAbbysNana]

47. Congratulations on a superb thread!

It's a unique pleasure to read through an entire thread of posts wherein those participating have done so with such finesse and civility. This is what productive interaction should be.

As for the housing demolition, what proof does the Israeli government have that each and every home which has been demolished had been used for terrorist activities? Considering the large number already demolished, I can't begin to believe that they all were used for such purposes.

It appears to me that much of it has been done to intimidate the Palestinian people and keep them in fear of the Israeli government and military, which seems to be the main purpose of all of the atrocious activities of the Israeli government and military against the Palestinian people. (That and anihilation of the "enemy," of course.)

One might ask, "Why do they do these things?" The answer: Because they can - and because the world has let them get by with it!

Regards,

RJnAbbysNana