Creating the problem

On 9 May, Israeli forces demolished a home for special needs’ children in the Palestinian East Jerusalem neighbourhood of Wadi Joz. A day later, the Jerusalem Construction and Planning Committee endorsed plans to establish three new ultra-orthodox settlements on the outskirts of occupied East Jerusalem.

 

Chief Palestinian Negotiator Saeb Erekat called the demolition “shockingly callous” and the Committee’s decision a “clear (Israeli) rejection of the Arab Peace Initiative.”

 

According to the Israeli Committee against House Demolitions (ICAHD), Israeli Border Police arrived at the children’s centre at 5.30 am and woke two caregivers and seven children. After the police forcibly removed two children, caregivers evacuated the remaining children and held a prayer vigil before the centre was demolished. The home also served East Jerusalem’s special needs’ schools, providing a meeting place and activities for Palestinian students with special needs.

 

Israel claimed that the centre lacked a proper permit and therefore was subject to demolition. But, as a report issued by the World Bank confirmed, Palestinians in East Jerusalem have difficulty obtaining building permits from Israel. The report also found that “80 percent of building violations (registered in Jerusalem) were recorded in West Jerusalem (while) 80 percent of actual demolition orders issued were for buildings in Palestinian East Jerusalem.”

 

As Mr Erekat saidadded, “Today, the occupier has no clothes. Today it is obvious that Israel wants Jerusalem for only some of Jerusalem’s people.”