WEST BANK – With a desperate look in his eyes, Ghazi Dodeen is gazing at his house in the West Bank village of Hijra.
"I have always dreamed of building this house on this land," Dodeen told IslamOnline.net Sunday, December 6.
"Now, I’m asked to either demolish it by my own hands OR let Israeli bulldozers do it."
The helpless Palestinian man received an order from occupation authorities to demolish the house by himself or get Israeli bulldozers bring it down.
The order, which was sent to four other families, warns that the villager would pay the demolition expenses if the house is razed by Israeli bulldozers.
"I’m torn apart," a heart-broken Dodeen said.
"Demolishing the house by my own hands would haunt me the rest of my life," he said.
"And if I refused, Israeli bulldozers would destroy it and I would be suffering all my life to collect money to pay for the demolition expenses."
For decades, Israel has been adopting a series of oppressive measures against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, including systematic demolition of their homes.
Israeli authorities do not issue building permissions for Palestinians who are also banned from renovating their houses unless with an Israeli permit, which they rarely get.
In 1968, Israel enacted a law allowing "illegal" houses to be razed even if permits are pending in the bureaucratic pipeline.
Israel's HaMoked Center for the Defense of the Individual said last week that Israeli authorities have revoked residency permits of 4,577 Palestinians in 2008, a figure greater than half the total revoked in the past 40 years.
A recent UN report has warned that thousands of Palestinian houses in Al-Quds are facing the risk of mass demolitions by Israel...
http://uruknet.info/index.php?p=m60825&hd=&size=1&l=e
No comments:
Post a Comment