Israeli house demolitions punish innocent Palestinians
By Adam Hanieh
RAMALLAH — The Israeli military has ordered the demolition of the homes of four alleged suicide bombers in the West Bank village of Asira. The order is based on the Emergency Law of 1945, which states that the demolitions can proceed because the alleged bombers lived there prior to the bombing.
The families are: Jamil Ashouliya (home to be totally demolished); Mohammed Sawalha, 87 years old (home to be both partially demolished and sealed); Ali Yassin, 70 years old (home to be demolished); and Mohammed Jarara (home to be partially sealed). Engineers state that the cement used in the sealing will cause irreparable damage.
More than 40 people will be made homeless, including people over the age of 70 and several babies less than a year old. One of the homes has a store — the family's only source of income. In one case, the second floor of the house is rented to a doctor and his family, who will also suffer.
The demolitions are proceeding for "security and deterrent" reasons. In all four cases, the young men in question had not lived in these houses for nearly two years. They were arrested by the Palestinian police in the winter of 1995.
They escaped in early spring of 1996 and have been in hiding since, so they could not have planned or discussed any attacks from these houses.
The bombers have been identified by the Israeli authorities using DNA testing on the families. However, the results and methods used have not been made available to lawyers representing the families.
No additional information has been presented to confirm the identity of the bombers, although the Shabak (Israeli Security) claims it has "secret evidence" which will not be made available to the families or their lawyers.
The families in question do not believe their sons were involved, have condemned the attacks and have been given no evidence to indicate that their sons were involved. They have also been denied permission to identify the bodies of the bombers.
The destruction of the homes of families of alleged suicide bombers only punishes the innocent. There is no evidence that the Israeli policy of destroying Palestinian homes in the West Bank deters attacks. It does, however, violate the internationally recognised right to shelter and breeds resentment and despair.
It also serves to cleanse Israeli-occupied Area C of Palestinians in advance of final status negotiations. More than 525 Palestinian homes have been destroyed since the beginning of the Oslo process, 257 under Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu.