CPTnet
May 15, 1999
HEBRON: FOLLOWING THE BULLDOZER-FOUR HOUSES DEMOLISHED
by Sara Reschly and Jamey Bouwmeester

On May 13, 1999, the Israeli military demolished four Palestinian houses
southeast of the Palestinian village of Yatta. The bulldozer, along with 15
military jeeps arrived at 5:00 a.m. at the home of Hassan Daoud, which was
rebuilt about one month ago by the Israeli Committee Against Home
Demolitions, the Palestinian Land Defense Committee and CPT. When
finished,the two room house was to be home to Hassan, his wife, and his 21
children and grandchildren.

The next house destroyed was the home of Ali Mohammed Hussein Al-Amuur.
CPTers Sara Reschly, Jamey Bouwmeester, and Palestinian human rights
activist Hisham Sharabati followed the bulldozer's tracks along a bumpy
one-lane dirt road to the demolition site in the middle of nowhere. When
the pile of rubble that used to be a house came into view and Reschly saw
how far away it was from the bypass road, she remarked, "They [the Israeli
military] go so far out of their way. What's wrong with these people!?" It
seems that this house was targeted because it was built outside of the
nearby cluster of houses in an attempt to keep the village borders from
expanding.

Twenty-six year old Ali began building a modest two-room home for his wife
and five children seven months ago. He said, "I chose to build far away
from the by-pass road, in this polluted area [near a large burning garbage
dump], to keep my home safe, but they followed me." He reported that three
months ago he found a paper in Hebrew left under a rock near his house. He
did not contact a lawyer regarding the paper, thinking the paper was not
serious as it was left outside.

The house of a nearby neighbor was demolished three years ago by the
military because it was too close to the by-pass road that serves the
Israeli settlements of Karmel and Ma'on. Six months ago he decided to
rebuild in the same area as Ali. Like Ali, he thought that the new house
would be safe because it is quite a distance from the by-pass road an next
to the dump. Like Ali, he was wrong and he has received a demolition order,
although his house was not demolished this time.

The bulldozer struck a third and fourth time at 8:00 a.m. a few hills away
at the homes of Ayyash and Sallem Azzazmi. Ayyash (29 years old) began
building a large home for his wife and three children about five years ago.
His brother Sallem began building his home next door about 18 months ago.
In May of 1998, they, along with two more brothers who live nearby, received
stop work orders from the Israeli Military Civil Administration. They filed
an appeal in court with the help of a human rights organization. They were
never given home demolition orders, nor were they informed that the
bulldozers would be coming that day.

"This is all because of the elections," stated one home owner. This
sentiment was repeated by each of the three other families whose homes were
razed. They were referring to the upcoming Israeli elections to be held on
May 17th. The families felt that their houses were destroyed as part of an
effort by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to win right wing votes. "That
four houses were demolished is bad enough," said Bouwmeester, "but the
thought that it might have been part of a deliberate campaign strategy
chills me."