In the Face of Demolitions, Palestinian Father Builds on
Hello! I hope you enjoy the article!
The whole mess started rather simply. As in most towns of the world, Palestinians in Anata, a dusty West Bank village near East Jerusalem, must apply for a permit to construct a house. Keeping with the rules, Jamaal – we’ll call him – a father of three, turned in his application and paid for it. But it was quickly rejected, a common occurrence throughout the occupied territories.
So Jamal built his young family a home without the permit. Shortly thereafter, Israeli soldiers and a bulldozer arrived at his door. He was ordered to clear the house of whatever he wanted. He was given 15 minutes to do so.
The family stood back and watched as the concrete blocks crumbled beneath the machinery. The home was destroyed in minutes.
If you ask the authorities about this, they will tell you that Palestinian homes are demolished because they are too close to Israel’s wall of separation, a 500-mile barrier that snakes through the West Bank to keep apart Palestinians and Israelis. Or maybe it’s because the houses are in an area where the infamous wall will soon be.
In Jamaal’s case, neither was true. He simply did not have a permit.
Being without a home, Jamaal decided to build again, and he dutifully applied for permit No. 2. He was flatly denied. He doesn’t know why. Apparently, a legitimate reason for rejection is not required. And that is the centerpiece of one of the problems in this land, requiring someone to apply for a permit to build when there is no intent to issue that permit. It is a form of control difficult to fathom in the Western world but a cruel reality that helps define the military occupation in the West Bank.
Crazy or not, Jamaal went out and built another house without the permit. And again, the soldiers came. After 15 minutes to remove his family’s belongings, his children watched once more as their house came down.
It is an incredible thing to imagine, but if possible, imagine this: Jamaal built his house for the third time sans permit. And in short order, it was destroyed. He then built for a fourth time, hoping the soldiers had tired of him. But they came early in the day, the bulldozer rumbling down the dirt road.
Thirty minutes after this fourth demolition, Jamaal’s 6-year-old son could not be found. The neighbors spread out to search for him. He was found unharmed lying on the ground between two rocks.
In truth, Jamaal has not been singled out by the Israelis. Thousands of Palestinian homes have been demolished over the years, and thousands more remain under demolition orders. When I was in Anata, there were several homes that had been reduced to rubble. Those owners had not yet chosen to rebuild.
Jamaal says he would be willing to build in any other area of the West Bank, but his identification card restricts him to the village in which he lives. The movement of Palestinians is tightly regulated in the occupied areas.
So with the help of friends and neighbors, he has built for a fifth time, providing a modest home that his family currently calls its own. And now they all wait, jumping at the sound of loud machinery, fearing the sound of every knock at the door. The soldiers may come tomorrow, or maybe they will come next year. No one doubts that they will come.
After all, Jamaal has built again without a permit. He knows it. But his resolve cannot be beaten down. One look at his children’s faces, one look at their future, the prospect of homelessness, and he begins again, bending his back to one concrete block at a time.
Have a Good Day!
WP Robot WordPress Autoposter
Tags: Demolition, Israel, Occupation, Palestinians, West Bank