Press Release

The Israeli violations of Palestinians'

housing and land rights continued unabated

in occupied Jerusalem

The Israeli occupation authorities continue to violate Palestinians' human rights in the occupied West Bank and Gaza with any deterrents on the part of the international community and its concerned bodies. In Jerusalem, the Israeli policy of house demolition, seizure and closure is continued unabated with the aim of displacing as much Palestinians as possible and replacing them with Israeli settlers to achieve a Jewish majority in the post 1967 occupied eastern part of the city. This policy mounts to ethnic cleansing and represents a flagrant and system violation of international law and human rights.

The Land Research Center, a Palestinian NGO and member of Habitat International Coalition, as part of its mandate of monitoring, documenting and writing about human rights violations, in general, and housing and land rights violations, in particular, has documented the following housing violations at the hands of the Israeli occupation authorities during 2004:

The total of 210 housing units have been demolished, seized or closed under the pretexts of un-licensing, security purposes, military purposes, construction of Apartheid Separation Wall, bypass roads and settlement activities.

First: 176 housing units were totally demolished under the pretext of un-licensing;

Second: 33 housing units were forcibly seized by Israeli settlers under army protection;

In addition, the Israeli border guards police seized Hotel Cliff ( 32 bed rooms) in Abu Dees town for security claims and because of its closeness to the path of the Apartheid Separation Wall. Another seven families in the area received orders of dismissal from their houses for the same reason.

The total number of people made homeless as a result of demolitions is 810, including 454 children under the age of 16.

Moreover, the Israeli occupation authorities destroyed thousands of square meters of commercial stores, barracks and walls and issued hundreds of new demolition orders against Palestinian houses in Jerusalem district

The Land Research Center ( LRC) condemns the above-mentioned acts of demolitions, seizure and closure of Palestinian houses which violate all international norms and conventions, at the top of which the Fourth Geneva Convention. LRC considers these violations as state terrorism directed against innocent civilian people with the aim of depriving them of their basic rights to proper housing and ownership.

LRC calls upon all international agencies, human rights organizations, UN bodies, governments to hold responsibilities and pressurize Israel to stop its on going systematic and flagrant violations of Palestinian human rights.

Note: A detailed report about house demolition, seizure and closure in Jerusalem during 2004 will be issued later on by LRC research unit. For further information, please visit our web site: www.lrcj.org , or contact LRC at: 02-2217239.