CPTnet
April 4, 2001
HEBRON/JERUSALEM: Eight homes destroyed in one morning; more demolitions to
come

At 9:00 this morning in the Beqa'a Valley on the eastern border of Hebron,
the Israeli military began demolishing the homes of the Faraj Jaber family,
the Mahmoud Borahn al Jabri family and two houses belonging to the al
Fakhouri family. Additionally, the �Peace House" of Salim Shawamreh in
Anata, near Jerusalem, was destroyed for the third time, after the military
demolished three other homes in the vicinity.

CPTers Greg Rollins, Rick Polhemus, and Pierre Shantz arrived in the Beqa'a
Valley at 9:15 am. Shantz climbed onto the roof of a house he mistakenly
thought was the next to be demolished and called for Greg Rollins to join
him. At this point, an Israeli Border Police officer, �Avi," climbed on
the roof, kicked Shantz, slapped him across the face and pushed him down the
stairs.

Shantz and other CPTers had stood in front of Avi in January 1999 as he
prepared to fire on nonviolent demonstrators in Hebron.

When Polhemus began taking pictures of the officer's treatment of Shantz,
the officer kicked Polhemus in the shins. Shantz was detained by the police,
because the officer accused him of inciting the crowd to resist when he had
called for Rollins to join him.

At the police station near Kiryat Arba, Shantz was treated cordially by the
Israeli officers there. After they fingerprinted and photographed him, they
asked for his statement. He said that perhaps Avi should take anger
management classes. The police wrote this recommendation down and then
released him without pressing charges.

Meanwhile, in Anata, a Palestinian suburb of Jerusalem, the Israeli military
demolished the home of Salim Shawamreh. The Shawamreh home has become the
highest profile house in the movement to end home demolitions over the last
three years. Shawamreh and Jeff Halper, director of the Israeli Committee
Against Home Demolitions, have done several speaking tours of North America.

Halper and Arik Asherman from Rabbis for Human Rights parked their cars to
block the path of the bulldozers and then sat down on the ground. The army
forcibly removed them, and then destroyed Shawamreh's home, garden and
water tanks. The bulldozers plowed up the foundations as well to ensure
that the home would not be rebuilt on that location again.

The Shawamreh home was the fourth house destroyed in the Jerusalem area that
morning and the driver of the bulldozer reported that he was on his way to
destroy two more homes in Issawiye, also on the outskirts of Jerusalem.

CPTers helped Palestinian, Israeli and international activists rebuild
Shawamreh's home twice after it was destroyed in 1998 and 1999.

Bat Shalom, an Israeli woman's group, put out a release about the demolition
this morning. In the release, they described the previous two demolitions
and wrote, �It took time for the family to find the strength to rebuild
their home yet again and risk another demolition, but finally they agreed
and, at the second rebuilding, completed in July 1999, the house was
dedicated, �House of Peace" sign in Arabic, Hebrew and English. After the
demolition today, nothing was left of the �House of Peace" sign that had
been hanging on the front door."

For a more complete account of the Shawamreh home demolition, write to Bat
Shalom at batshalo@netvision.net.il.