(Fwd) Urgent - Activists needed in Bet Hanina & ALSO protest letters
Gush Shalom (Israeli Peace Bloc)
info at gush-shalom.org
Fri Aug 8 19:49:39 IDT 2003
------- Forwarded message follows -------
Date sent: Fri, 8 Aug 2003 07:14:06 -0700 (PDT)
From: Victoria Buch <vvbb54 at yahoo.com>
Subject: Urgent Action Alert - Activists needed in Bet Hanina
To: info at gush-shalom.org, ActLeft at yahoogroups.com
Friends, help!
In the Bet Hanina Palestinian neighborhood of
Jerusalem, there are several "unlicensed" houses
with an activated demolition order, valid for the
month of August. That is, the bulldozers may come
any morning of this month. Below, enclosed please
find a description the terrible daily wait for
bulldozers, as seen by a group of activists this
week.
The families need your support NOW:
1) Spend a morning, or several mornings, with the
families in Bet Hanina. If you can, come overnight.
Your presence provides support, and shows the
authorities that you care. Also, the more witnesses,
the more publicity. Activists are needed starting
Saturday night, or Sunday morning. Call Rabbi Arik
Ascherman 050-607-034, 02-5637731 (office).
2) Keep writing protest letters to politicians and
to Jerusalem municipality. A sample letter is given
in the end, together with a list of addressees.
Israeli politicians should be aware of your protest.
Foreign politicians should know how exactly Israeli
authorities implement the Road Map in Bet Hanina.
Victoria Buch,
The Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions
------------------------------------------------
Jerusalem Tuesday August 5, 2003
Will the bulldozers come today?
Friends,
Today we spent a morning in Bet Hanina, in a house
of Khader, which is subject to a "ticking"
demolition order, for a month. Bulldozers may come
on any of the mornings. Our group consists of
Jerusalem left wing and human rights activists -
Rabbi Arik Ascherman of Rabbis for Human Rights,
Jeff Halper of the Israel Committee Against House
Demolitions and people from Peace Now, Ta'ayush,
Machsom Watch and other organizations. The group has
come every day since Sunday, before sunrise, and has
been waiting with Khader for a few hours: Will the
bulldozers come today?
So: we arrive early in the morning. Cars are parked
near a silent clump of houses, we trot in the
darkness to a rickety entrance of Khader's house.
Khader opens the door. He tells me later he has not
slept normally for the last year and a half. "It is
like if you know you have cancer - the thought does
not let you sleep, really." His eyes are red.
People come to stay with him through these terrible
nights. Last time the elderly in-laws were present,
this time - a young friend.
Coffee is served, plans for passive resistance made,
should the bulldozers come today. Khader notes my
disposable camera and asks me to photograph the
house. Taking photos has a ritualistic quality -
Khader with Arik and Jeff in the living room; Khader
with the group. Khader calls Arik - "my father",
which is weird - Khader is older. Then a guided
tour of the house - I with a camera, Khader
pointing. Empty children's bedroom - kids were
scared and went to sleep with their mom. In the
parents' bedroom, three small children are sleeping
in the big bed with mom, and the remaining bunch -
on the floor around it. Khader wakes some for better
photos. A girl is taken to her bedroom, to pose with
stuffed toys. The house is a strange combination of
poverty (scanty furniture, pile of rubble instead of
entrance steps, bare walls) and an effort for luxury
(beautiful tiles in a huge living room - Khader is a
tile-man).
We climb the roof, joined by a neighbor - also named
Khader, also with a ticking demolition order - ten
days to go. The other Khader seems to take it better
- he can sleep in the afternoon, and he can smile. I
am told that there are ways to avoid it all - by
huge bribes, or collaboration with the police.
The sun rises over the little valley. There is a
long lake at the bottom; it is polluted by sewage. A
distant man is measuring a plot of land at the bank
- "The crazy guy wants to build a house there!" I am
told.
We view together the morning man-hunt. People with
Palestinian IDs are trying to sneak to Jerusalem
side through the neighborhood. Border Policemen in
patrol cars are catching them. A woman is stopped
and sent back, we hear her curses from a distance. A
patrol car arrives slowly from the right, a "catch"
of some ten laborers with plastic lunch-bags marches
meekly behind. Their IDs were already taken by the
BP "for inspection". A precious work-day is lost.
They will be detained for hours in the side street,
waiting for their ID return.
The patrol car stops directly in front, on the other
side of the valley. We see the boots of the resting
Border Policeman sticking out of the window. Noises
like gun shots emanate from there, produced by the
BP by tapping on a loudspeaker mike "for fun", I am
told by Khader. Then a Hebrew song is broad-casted,
loud enough to wake the neighborhood. I am told that
the BP repertoire includes in addition imitating the
muezzin call for prayers, and ejaculations in Arabic
such as "Feyn baba?" ("Where is daddy?"). Then the
car disappears and we see a seller of bagels, with a
tray on his head, running frantically to the other
side, followed by some hurrying people.
The time crawls. Finally we decide "not today". "Go
to rest, man" I suggest to Khader. "Cannot, going to
meet a guy from the municipality". We leave to our
free world, where houses are not demolished, and
people are not hunted on the way to work.
Victoria Buch, Jerusalem, Israel
* * * * * *
PLEASE SEND PROTEST LETTERS AGAINST HOUSE
DEMOLITIONS!!
---
Sample protest letter, addressees below
-----------
Subject: STOP PALESTINIAN HOME DEMOLITIONS!
Dear Sir / Madam
These days bulldozers are threatening to enter the
front yard of homes at Beit Hanina and other
Palestinian neighborhoods in East Jerusalem,
demolishing whatever shed is in their way. Why?
Because an absurd and discriminative set of
complicated and confusing rules, regulations and
resident nor-friendly zoning insures that
Palestinians must build "illegally" in East
Jerusalem. So the authorities may come whenever they
want and wherever they want and demolish Palestinian
homes.
This policy is ignoring the Road Map's clear ruling
stated in its Fist Stage that "GOI (Government of
Israel) takes no actions undermining trust,
including deportations, attack on civilians;
confiscation and/or demolition of Palestinian homes
and property, as a punitive measure or to facilitate
Israeli construction; destruction of Palestinian
institutions and infrastructure; and other measures
specified in the Tenet Work Plan."
Moreover, this is a humanitarian tragedy, which is
well beyond the violation of the Road Map. Stop for
a minute and think how would you feel if bulldozers
were threatening to demolish your home? What would
have felt when they are actually demolishing it?
What did your children would have felt? Will it be
possible to heal their wounds?
Please act urgently to save these homes. Save their
inhabitants from the terrible trauma of seeing their
homes destroyed and their hopes shattered.
Sincerely
* * * * * * *
The addresses of Israeli and international
authorities:
email string:
pm_eng at pmo.gov.il, webmaster at pmo.gov.il, sar at mofa.gov.il,
mayor at jerusalem.muni.il, brsigal at jerusalem.muni.il,
aporaz at knesset.gov.il, sar at moin.gov.il,sar at justice.gov.il,
president at whitehouse.gov, secretary at state.gov, ecu at un.org,
coi at un.org, webadmin.hchr at unog.ch, romano.prodi at cec.eu.int,
public.info at consilium.eu.int, info at rhr.israel.net
Address details:
Israeli Officials:
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, Office of the Prime Minister 3 Kaplan
Street, P O Box 187 Jerusalem 91919, Israel Fax: +972 2 6705475;
+972 2 5664838; Tel: 972 2 6705511 E-mail: pm_eng at pmo.gov.il;
webmaster at pmo.gov.il
Foreign Minister Silwan Shalom sar at mofa.gov.il
Mayor Uri Luplianski: Kikar Safra 1, Jerusalem, Israel; Phone: >
972-2-629-7717; Fax: 972--629-6014; mayor at jerusalem.muni.il;
brsigal at jerusalem.muni.il
Interior Minister Avrahm Poraz Ministry of
the Interior; Kiryat Ben Gurion, Kaplan 2, Jerusalem, Israel;
aporaz at knesset.gov.il; sar at moin.gov.il; Fax: 972-2-566-6376 Tel:
972-2-670-1402
Minister for Jerusalem Affairs Natan Sharansky Tel.
972-2-6799774, Fax: 972-2-6799775
Justice Minister Yosef (Tommy) Lapid Tel. 972-2-6466527, Fax. 972 2
6285438, sar at justice.gov.il
* * * * * * *
American officials: > President George W. Bush COMMENTS:
202-456-1111 FAX: 202-456-2461 Email: president at whitehouse.gov >
Secretary of State Colin L. Powell: phone: (202) 647-7098 email
<secretary at state.gov>
* * * * * * *
UN Secretary General Kofi
Annan : ecu at un.org, or: coi at un.org United Nations High
Commissioner for Human Rights webadmin.hchr at unog.ch or Fax:
+(41-22) 917-9016
* * * * * * *
Romano Prodi, President of the European Commission: >
romano.prodi at cec.eu.int Council of the European Union: >
public.info at consilium.eu.int
* * * * * * Rabbis For Human Rights
Tel. 972 2 563-7731 Fax. 972 2 566-2815 Mobile 972 50607034 >
info at rhr.israel.net Website: rhr.israel.net >
For other e-mail addresses see internet sites:
US Congress:
http://www.congress.org/congressorg/dbq/officials/directory/directory.db
q?command=congdir US Senate
http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm
Contact information for European Governments
http://europa.eu.int/abc/governments/index_en.html
Permanent Missions to the United Nations
http://www.un.int/missions/webs.html
Many of e-mail addresses of UN missions are formatted as follows:
<france at un.int>, <germany at un.int>, <india at un.int>,
<ireland at un.int>, <italy at un.int>, <uk at un.int> etc.
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