CPTnet
December 5, 2002
HEBRON: Fifteen Homes in Hebron Slated for Demolition
By Greg Rollins
On December 3, 2002 representatives of the Israeli army took a small group
of Palestinian homeowners through part of the old city of Hebron to show
where the army plans to destroy fifteen Palestinian homes in order to widen
the street for Israeli settlers. Settlers from the settlement of Kiryat Arba
use the narrow lane every Sabbath when they walk to Abraham’s tomb. At least
one third of the homes slated for demolition currently house Palestinian
families.
After a Palestinian attack in Hebron on November 16 that killed twelve
Israeli soldiers, police, and armed guards, the Israeli army announced it
would improve security for Israeli settlers on the road between Kiryat Arba
and Abraham’s tomb. The Palestinian homes slated for demolition are not in
the same place as the attack, but just east of the tomb in part of the old
city.
The army claims that most of the fifteen homes scheduled for destruction
have been abandoned, but many Palestinians say that have been waiting for
their homes to be restored so they can move back into them. Over a year ago
the Hebron Rehabilitation Committee attempted to rebuild and restore the
homes and apartments in the area, but five times were given orders to stop
work by the Israeli army. While the army contends that only fifteen houses
will be affected by these demolitions, lawyers defending the homes say that
with the dimensions given for the new road, one hundred and fifty houses and
apartments will be affected.
Prior to the tour given by the army, the homes had been marked out with
demolition orders written in Arabic and Hebrew, and a map of the widened
lane. On the tour, Israeli soldiers and civilians working in the military’s
District Command Office showed local Palestinians the doomed houses and
learned the names of the Palestinian families who owned the houses. The army
told the Palestinians that they would begin to demolish the homes on or
immediately after the feast days at the end of Ramadan.
Since the attack on the 16th, the army has kept the Palestinian citizens of
Hebron under twenty-four-hour house arrest. Palestinians who live in the
area say that settler harassment and attacks have increased. Hebrew graffiti
reading, “Arabs out,” and “A good Arab is a dead Arab” has appeared on walls
and doors of Palestinian homes. Some of the buildings scheduled for
demolition in this part of the city are over seven hundred years old.
