Palestinian Family Whose Jerusalem Home Was Demolished Moves Into A Cave

[Purveyor]

BY ALON BERNSTEIN, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS AUGUST 27, 2013 1:02

JERUSALEM - For much of the past seven years, Khalid Zir and his family called a makeshift tin shack in the east Jerusalem neighbourhood of Silwan home. But now that Israeli authorities have demolished the hut, Zir has become even more desperate.

With no other housing options, Zir, his wife and five children have gathered their belongings and moved into a cave that used to serve as the family's stable.

"My house was demolished, and I was obliged to live here because I did not have any place to go to," said Zir, a 39-year-old maintenance worker. "I wanted to rent a house but there are no houses here for rent, because there are no licenses for us Arabs to build."

The family's odd plight highlights the tricky issue of home demolitions in east Jerusalem, the Palestinians' hoped-for capital. Israel says the matter is merely one of law and order and that it was the Jerusalem municipality's responsibility to crack down on zoning violations and illegal building. The local Arabs, however, see a more sinister agenda aimed at preventing them from growing while nearby Jewish settlements continue to expand.

MORE...

http://www.calgaryherald.com/news/world/Palestinian+family+whose+Jerusalem+home+demolished+moves+into/8839052/story.html

[Scootaloo]

1. Irony...

Israel says the matter is merely one of law and order and that it was the Jerusalem municipality's responsibility to crack down on zoning violations and illegal building. The local Arabs, however, see a more sinister agenda aimed at preventing them from growing while nearby Jewish settlements continue to expand.

[shaayecanaan]

2. Fuck that, lets demolish their cave

Damn Arabs.

[azurnoir]

3. you might not be far from wrong

Living in cave homes wedged in the bone-dry hills, residents of the tiny hamlets, some of which date to the 19th century, have no running water, electricity or services.

"We are one kilometer (mile) away from one settlement, and 700 meters (2,300 feet) from a (settler) outpost - why aren't they being evacuated?" said resident Mahmoud Hamamdeh, dressed in flowing traditional dress and headgarb.

"We got our first demolition order right after the settlements were built in 1985," he says.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/08/08/us-palestinians-israel-shepherds-idUSBRE87712U20120808