HEBRON -- At 9 a.m. this morning Israeli soldiers destroyed the home
of Zuhur and Yussef Al-Attrash and their ten children in the Al
Sendas area, south of Hebron. This is the third time the family's
home has been destroyed. The second demolition occurred on March 3 of
this year (see previous release.) When members of Christian
Peacemaker Teams (CPT) arrived at 10:30 a.m., they saw eight military
vehicles and a bulldozer leaving the area. Zuhur, the mother, was
screaming and crying in distress. Yussef, the father, and the eldest
daughter Manaal, 17, had been arrested and taken to the police
station at the Jewish settlement of Kiryat Arba, 7 km away.
According to eyewitnesses, Manaal was injured and bleeding as she
attempted to resist the demolition. The two were released from
custody by early afternoon.

The family, who has lived on the present land since Ottoman times,
were in the process of applying for a building permit for the new
home. Yussef went to the land office yesterday to provide additional
information. According to the family, the demolition order presented
this morning was from the previous demolition; no new order had been
issued. The lack of a building permit is frequently given as the
reason for demolition of Palestinian homes in the West Bank. However
in locations such as Al Sendas, in Area C, (the 70% of the West Bank
still under full Israeli control), permits are virtually impossible
to obtain.

The house that was demolished, consisting of 3 rooms, was built with
the help of Palestinian friends and international supporters,
including the Israeli group Peace Now and Rabbis for Human Rights. It
was just nearing completion, and the family had been working on
finishing a cement floor until 3 a.m. this morning. They were also
still using, as living space, a large tent provided by the Red Cross
after the previous demolition. That tent was dismantled when the
house was bulldozed, but it and another smaller tent were re-erected
later in the afternoon. The family's toilet and water supply also
survived the bulldozer, and by the end of the afternoon, a temporary
wall had been built to enclose the bathroom facilities.

When CPTers visited the family last Saturday, before today's
demolition, Zuhur compared herself to a tree that had been repeatedly
uprooted and replanted. "How many times can someone survive this?"
she asked. Despite the heavy hearts, the family seems to concur with
the oldest son, Housam, 18. Speaking through his tears, he greeted
CPTers this morning with the words, "Don't worry, we'll build
another one."