Holes in the Map

by Katharine Maycock

From: Bullet Points (used w/permission)

This house was demolished less than a mile from where I live, in May. Last week (29th July) the Municipality of Jerusalem demolished the home of the El-Salfiti family in Silwan, East Jerusalem. The home provided shelter for 22 people. This week, the Ministry of the Interior has issued dozens more demolition orders for houses in East Jerusalem. This is in spite of the explicit prohibition of house demolitions in the short text of the Road Map. 'The Government of Israel takes no actions undermining trust, including demolition of Palestinian homes as a punitive measure or to facilitate Israeli construction.'

The home (above and below) of Sufian Masadeh (32), his wife Sana (30) and their children ranging from ages 5 to 12 was demolished even though Sufian had a letter from the Jerusalem Municipality stating that his house is in an area zoned for building and he was in the process of obtaining a permit. Mr. Masadeh, formerly a driver, has been unemployed for the last 1.5 years. The administrative order to demolish the Masadeh family home was originally given despite water, telephone and arnona (municipal tax) records dating back more than the 30 days before the first visit by a municipal inspector (which would make it impossible to obtain an administrative order.) The court decided that the Masadeh family might have begun paying these bills before moving in.

There are two reasons the Israeli government uses to explain the continuing house demolitions despite the Road Map: one is that the Road Map doesn't cover East Jerusalem because it has been formally annexed to Israel (it is 'occupied territory' under international law); two is that the demolitions do not count as 'punitive measures' because they are being carried out for planning purposes. In the area where I live, 'planning' seems to mean the building of settler-only by-pass roads through Palestinian areas helping connect the Jewish settlements by a road grid.

The demolitions are part of a demographic war to bolster the number of Jewish settlers in East Jerusalem (currently 200,000) and reduce the number of Palestinians in 'arab' neighbourhoods. A solid Jewish block in East Jerusalem makes the division of the city into two capitals (East Jerusalem for Palestinian state and West Jerusalem for Israel) virtually impossible.

A shoe-maker's view

Last week I sat in an East Jerusalem shop having my shoes mended. "What do you think of the Road Map?", I asked. " They are laughing at us. They'll be peace for 6 months, then it will all be over", the men replied cynically. "The Israelis don't want peace". I asked them what they thought should happen in order for there to be peace. The reply was clear and direct:

1. release Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails

2. give back the whole of East Jerusalem to the Palestinians as their capital

3. acknowledge/ address the Palestinian refugees' right of return

As we talked a string of greetings drifted through the door.

"You see this woman?" they said. "She had her house and her land taken".

I looked and saw an old woman in traditional Palestinian dress bending down to take a basket of things off her head, and then sit on their doorstep.

"Her house and land in Jerusalem was taken from her in 1948" I was told. "She comes here from her refugee camp in Ramallah, to beg and sell what she can to pay her electricity bills and buy medicine. Is this justice?"

I asked them how many of the 5 million Palestinian refugees they estimated would return if given the chance. "Over 50% - to Haifa, Tel Aviv, Jaffa