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Israel demolishes church property in Jerusalem, future mass demolitions threatened

MEMO | November 6, 2013

Israeli forces Monday demolished a property in occupied East Jerusalem owned by the Roman Catholic Church, displacing 14 Palestinians. At a press conference held by the ruins of the home, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem Fuad Tawwal condemned the demolition in the presence of senior church officials, foreign diplomats and journalists, saying “there is no justification for the demolition” and accusing the Jerusalem “municipality and the Israeli government” of “increase[ing] hatred” through its policies.

Tawwal claimed that it was the first time Israel had demolished property belonging to the church, and promised “legal action in appropriate courts” in response.

Meanwhile, it has been reported that hundreds of Palestinian families in East Jerusalem have recently received demolition orders, notices which give residents 30 days to appeal.

Palestinian-owned properties in Israeli-annexed East Jerusalem are routinely demolished by the Jerusalem municipality on the grounds of lacking the right permit – permits that are notoriously difficult to get. For example, just 13 per cent of the Jerusalem housing units granted building permits in the period 2005-’09 were in Palestinian neighbourhoods.

November 6, 2013 - Posted by | Aletho News | , , , , , ,

1 Comment »

  1. Could this razing of the house belonging to the Catholic Church be Netanyahu’s “Price Tag” to the Church because the Pope declined to meet with Netanyahu during his visit to Rome? Obviously, Netanyahu felt snubbed, and, just as the illegal settlers in the West Bank destroy properties belonging to the Palestinians as “Price Tag”, this is Netanyahu’s way of taking revenge: a sort of tit for tat, I suppose. Obviously, someone forgot to tell Netanyahu that the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem Fuad Tawwal is not like Abbas. Until now, Abbas has only threatened to charge Israel with criminal violation of International Laws and War Crimes at the ICJ in the Hague, Netherlands. But the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem Fuad Tawwa, without a doubt, will actually charge the Israeli government for having committed criminal destruction of property and vandalism. This will develop into a very interesting drama; there is no doubt about it.
    Yesh Prabhu, Bushkill, Pennsylvania

    Like

    Yesh Prabhu's avatar Comment by Yesh Prabhu | November 6, 2013 | Reply


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