Occupation Forces destroy Palestinian house in Anata: Campaign Condemns Judaization of Jerusalem
Latest News, The Grassroots Palestinian Anti-Apartheid Wall Campaign, November 10th, 2005
The Occupation continued its targeted expulsion of Palestinians in Jerusalem by carrying out a house demolition on Monday the 7th of November. Dozens of Occupation Forces expelled the Bishara family from their home in Anata, before destroying the property under the pretext of it not having the correct “permit”.
The demolished house belonged to the family of Khalid Mohammad Bishara. He and his family remained steadfast to their house when Occupation Forces arrived with military orders to demolish the property. Dozens of Occupation soldiers beat the family, using their sticks and guns to force them out of their property. The house was subsequently leveled with its entire contents destroyed.
The building was set on two floors and was a total of 170 m2 in length. It was a home to 9 members of the Bishara family, all of who lost their personal possessions as the house was flattened. The house took over 3 years to build and was the result of the families savings which they had invested into the property.
House demolitions are a commonplace feature of the Occupation with the lack of “permit”, or the proximity of the property to the Apartheid Wall, often given as the reason by the Occupation Forces in the expulsion and assault upon Palestinians. Anata is a village of 16,000 people is surrounded by the Wall. It runs through the playground of the secondary school.
Over 5000 homes have been destroyed by the Occupation from 2000-2004. In Jerusalem 296 houses have been demolished in the last five years and the Occupation have announced plans to demolish another 15,000 by 2025 in order to secure the Judeaization of the city.
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| Above: View from the secondary school in Anata. The Wall is enclosing Anata, the areas of Shufat refugee camp and Dahiat as-Salam (in the picture) into one ghetto. |
Meanwhile. a new settlement transport scheme in Jerusalem, built with French funding, has triggered a new call from the Grassroots Palestinian Anti-Apartheid Wall Campaign. The “light railway project” has been designed by the Occupation Forces to continue the Judaization of the city, acting as a vital transport link for various Zionist colonies around Jerusalem into the city.
French companies Alstom and Connex form part of a consortium that won a 2002 tender put out by Israeli Occupation authorities for a light rail transportation project that amounted to around 500 million euros. The companies will be responsible for operation and maintenance for the next 30 years. In August of this year, the project got the go ahead from War Criminal Ariel Sharon who stated at a signing ceremony: “ I believe that this should be done, and in any event, anything that can be done to strengthen Jerusalem, construct it, expand it and sustain it for eternity as the capital of the Jewish people and the united capital of the State of Israel, should be done.”
The path of the light rail incorporates a number of Jewish settlements around Jerusalem, built on stolen Palestinian land. It will ensure the contiguity of these settlements into the central areas of the city, serving them with a vital transport link. The project plays a key role in sustaining the settlements and ensuring they became a permanent fixture upon Palestinian land.
The project, a private-public partnership (PPP) between the Israeli Occupation government and the consortium, is hinged upon the willingness of international business groupings to provide a huge injection of capital. In turn the French companies will reap significant profits and dividends over a thirty-year period. The Campaign, in a call to halt the French funding for the project, noted how the profits of Alstom and Connex would be “money stained with the blood and misery of Palestinians currently being expelled from Jerusalem”.
The project reveals the vital role and contribution of external financing and funding for Israeli Apartheid. The need to cut-off and isolate Apartheid Israel, through a series of boycott, divestment and sanctions initiatives, provides the concrete and effective measures by which the funding for Israeli Apartheid and Occupation can be halted.
Click here to read the full call of the Anti-Apartheid Wall Campaign
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