Israels cruelest punishments reserved for

Palestinians

Palestinians inspect the home of the Ghassan Abu Jamal after it was punitively demolished by the Israeli
army in East Jerusalems Jabal al-Mukabir neighborhood, 6 October.
Mahfouz Abu TurkAPA images

Charlotte Silver-Jerusalem 9 November 2015

The Electronic Intifada

The Abu Jamal family lives in an apartment complex near the bottom of the valley
in Jabal al-Mukabir, a neighborhood in occupied East Jerusalem.
On the buildings top floor, a thin trail of ash leads to what was once Ghassan Abu
Jamals apartment.

It is now a chaotic mess of mangled iron, piles of jagged cement and destroyed
furniture the remains of a home that was blown up from the inside.
Ghassan Abu Jamal, along with his cousin Udai Abu Jamal, entered a synagogue in
West Jerusalem one year ago and shot dead four people before being killed by an
Israeli soldier.
On the morning of 6 October, the Israeli army placed enough explosives in Ghassans
small apartment to destroy it, as well as that of his brother Mouria, who lived next
door.
This was the first home to be demolished as part of an onslaught of reprisals Israel has
implemented in Jerusalem since a sharp rise in violence began at the start of October.
Israel refers to the practice of destroying the homes of Palestinian resistance fighters
or their families as punitive demolitions.
Since then, four more homes have been punitively demolished or sealed by Israel,
while seven more demolition orders have been issued and at least 16 homes surveyed
for possible destruction.
The policy is holdover from the emergency laws introduced by Palestines British
colonial rulers in 1945.
Notably, Israel only implements the practice for suspected Palestinian attackers, never
for Jewish perpetrators or suspects or their families.
Only for Palestinians
While sitting amongst these ruins under a ceiling that appears on the verge of collapse,
Mouria Abu Jamal told The Electronic Intifada: We dont leave Jabal al-Mukabir
anymore. There is nowhere to go.
Israel has targeted the residents of Jabal al-Mukabir, especially the Abu Jamal family,
with myriad forms of collective punishment: homes have been demolished, residency
rights stripped, movement impeded.
When the soldiers arrived at Ghassans home the morning of 6 October, it was already
empty. Nadia, Ghassans wife from a village east of the separation wall in the occupied
West Bank, had already had her Jerusalem residency stripped by Israel when her

husband died, a move human rights group BTselem called unlawful punishment.
She was forced to leave Jerusalem in July, along with her three children, aged 3, 4 and
6.
During the pre-dawn demolition of Ghassans home, soldiers had beaten Ghassans
cousin Alaa with their rifles, seriously wounding him. Medical records from the clinic
that treated him following the attack state that his right elbow was swollen from
trauma by a heavy object.
A week later, Alaa drove his car into the Jerusalem light rail and reportedly stabbed
several Israelis, killing one and seriously injuring another, before he was shot to death.
Yet Israel maintains that the practice of demolishing the family homes of Palestinian
terror suspects deters future attacks.
But a decade ago, an Israeli army investigative committee disagreed.
It concluded, in the words of Haaretz, that the damage caused by demolitions
outweighs their benefits, since whatever discouragement they cause is significantly
eclipsed by the level of hate and fury they create.
Dalia Kerstein of Hamoked, one of the Israeli human rights organizations currently
challenging the practice, said that the demolitions expose Israels discrimination. But
she emphasizes that she is opposed to the practice for anyone.
According to a recent poll, however, 80 percent of Israeli Jews support punitive
demolitions of Palestinian homes. More than half said they would oppose doing the
same to Jews.
That popularity might be the real reason Israeli leaders continue the practice.
They call us killers
Israel occupied East Jerusalem along with the rest of the West Bank in 1967. Its
subsequent annexation of the city has not been recognized by any country and was
declared null and void by the UN Security Council.
The Fourth Geneva Convention, which the UN Security Council says applies to the
occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, states that no one may be punished
for an offense he or she has not personally committed.

The prohibition on collective punishment includes reprisals against persons and their
property.
Mouria and his family of three, including a 4-month-old baby, now sleep in the room
directly beneath the heavy rubble. The ceiling is cracked and leaking from the heavy
weight of the debris, which Mouria said he cant afford to remove.
There are three more homes in the Abu Jamal complex threatened with demolition:
Alaas family home, where his 29-year-old wife and three children aged between 4 and
8 live, was immediately issued with a demolition order.
Other members of the family have also received administrative demolition orders from
the Israeli-imposed Jerusalem municipality for building without a nearly impossible to
obtain permit.
The municipality does its part, Hamokeds Kerstein said, referring to how the city
authorities work with the rest of the Israeli system to collectively punish the families of
accused Palestinians.
Meanwhile, Israel has erected dozens of roadblocks and checkpoints within Palestinian
neighborhoods in East Jerusalem.
Mouria, who is 42, said new roadblocks are concentrated inside Jabal al-Mukabir,
rather than on the outskirts of the neighborhood as was the case during the second
intifada of the early 2000s.
They divided the village, families. We cannot reach others, children cannot go to
school, Mouria told The Electronic Intifada. He said young children are now forced to
take two buses to reach their school instead of one because the routes are impeded.
Ir Amim has been closely monitoring the roadblocks in East Jerusalem.
The Israeli human rights groups Betty Hirschman told The Electronic Intifada that
while some of the checkpoints and closures separate Palestinian from Jewish
neighborhoods, some block internal roads the most severe and inexplicable form of
collective punishment, prohibiting school access for children among other
ramifications.

And at the checkpoints surrounding the neighborhood, Mouria said he and his family
are singled out by the soldiers operating them: We are forced to take off our clothes,
they call us killers.
Following his cousin Ghassans attack in November, Mouria was fired from his
construction job and hasnt been able to find work since.
Mutaz, Udais brother, was also fired from his gardening job following the attack.
Once they see our name, its over, said Mouria, who added that he has now stopped
looking for work.
The fate of Alaas family, along with all families whose sons have been accused of
perpetrating attacks, now rests with the Israeli high court, which has so far ruled
consistently in favor of punishing family members.
On 22 October, the court temporarily stayed the demolitions, asking for more evidence
that supports the states assertion that they function as a deterrent.
The Israeli government submitted secret evidence in support of its claims.
But for Mouria, the purpose of the home demolitions, the checkpoints and the constant
harassment by soldiers is clear: They want to show their power.
Charlotte Silver is a journalist based in Oakland, California. Twitter: @CharESilver.
Posted by Thavam