[GushShalom] Demolitions started at Akaba - Protest may still make a difference
Gush Shalom (Israeli Peace Bloc)
info at gush-shalom.org
Thu Dec 25 00:24:03 IST 2003
GUSH SHALOM pob 3322, Tel-Aviv 61033 www.gush-shalom.org
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Demolitions started at Akaba
Your protest can still make a difference
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International alert
"The soldiers have arrived, they are destroying houses!". It was Haj Sami
Sadek from from the tiny Palestinian village of Akaba, sourth-east of Jenin.
This is the same village about which we sent an alarm, October 23, when
the demolition of 12 houses seemed imminent. With your help we
succeeded then to arouse a wave of protest letters, and win time. But the
authorities thought that meanwhile everybody may have forgotten about
Akaba.
Yesterday, two houses were demolished "because they had been built
without a permit". As we wrote before, the inhabitants of Akaba would
have gladly build legally on their lands - but since 1976 the Israeli
authorities refused to issue any building permits there. Two families -
altogether four adults and twelve children - are left homeless in the middle
of winter, in a cold mountain region. And the army official in charge
anounced upon his departure that they would be back "in five days" in
order to demolish ten more houses, including Akabah's mosque and
kindergarten.
Why this sudden interest in Akaba village? During these months the army
revived old demolition orders which had lain dormant for years and issued
new ones. Also they started conducting searches and intimidating patrols,
in one of which armed soldiers entered the kindergarten and greatly
frightened the children there. There seems no obvious reason. No violent
activity of any kind occured in Akaba in the entire 36 years of Israeli rule.
However, some unofficial maps of Sharon's Separation Fence show the
village of Akaba to be straight in its route...
Whatever the reason for the threat to Akaba's houses, the threat is direct
and immediate. For a community of some 250 , altoghether living in 18
houses plus some shacks and tents, the destruction of twelve of the
houses will be a mortal blow. Efforts are presently made to save what can
be saved and otbtain a judicial injunction preventing further demolitions.
This is the context which can make your renewed protest meaningful.
addresses:
To:
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon <pm_eng at pmo.gov.il>
Spokesperson of the Prime Minister <dover at pmo.gov.il>
Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz <sar at mod.gov.il>
Spokesperson Defense Ministry <info at mail.idf.il>
Foreign Minister Silwan Shalom <sar at mofa.gov.il>
and/or via the Israeli embassy in your
environment; addresses of Israeli
embassies at
http://www.embassyworld.com/embassy/israel1.htm
with copies to:
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan <ecu at un.org>, <coi at un.org>
US President George W. Bush <president at whitehouse.gov>
"Secretary of State, Colin Powell" <secretary at state.gov>,
Mr. Terje Rod Larsen <unsco at palnet.com>, <lemore at un.org>
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights <webadmin.hchr at unog.ch>
European Union <civis at europarl.eu.int>, <public.info at consilium.eu.int>
If possible send in addition a fax or hardcopy
letter to:
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon,
Office of the Prime Minister
3 Kaplan Street, P O Box 187
Jerusalem 91919, Israel
Fax: +972 2 6705475
Please, send copies to:
Haj Sami Sadek, Mayor of Akaba
Phone/Fax 972-09-2572201
phone 972-55-795286 / 972-59-208512
Israeli Committee Against House Demolition:
icahd at zahav.net.il
Gush Shalom:
info at gush-shalom.org
And - last but not least: phone to the
Commander, Civil Administration +972-(0)2-9977341
You can use the following sample letter or
compose your own.
Dear Sir
I am deeply shocked at the demolition by the
Israeli army of two houses in the occupied
village of Akaba southeast of Jenin, on December
23, and even more so by the threat to destroy
another ten houses. This village has never caused
a security problem. The IDF apparently wants to
destroy the whole village (the entire village
contains no more that 18 houses) with demolition
orders even for the mosque and the kindergarten.
In the much-publicized prime minsterial speech at
Herzlia, a plegae was made that Israel would
abide by its obligations under the Roadmap for
Peace. The destruction of a village days after
such a speech would cast grave doubts, to say
the least, on whatever international credibility
the government of Israeli still has.
I call upon you to act immediately to prevent any
further demolitions and to grant the people of
Akaba permits to build houses for themselves on
their own land.
[your name and address]
--
Read about factories exit from the occupied territories
in 2nd part of following article
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/374866.html
(Akiva Eldar in Ha'aretz Dec.23 2003)
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welcome Mordechai Vanunu ("the nuclear whistleblower ") upon his
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<freevanunu at mindspring.com>
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