Concealed Intentions- JLAC-.pdf

a specific context, in response to several uprisings that occurred in Palestine from 1936-1939, among which is the
well-known “Great Revolt.” British authorities responded by implementing a series of measures, such as punitive
house demolitions, operating against Palestinian political and civil rights, 78 The current situation in the oPt does not
justify such practices, however, which are instead used as a form of collective punishment, and therefore illegal under
international law. 79 No orders are required for punitive demolitions, which often cause numerous civilian casualties. 80
In 2005, the IDF generally stopped the use of punitive house demolitions, which at the time accounted for 8.5% of all
demolition orders. 81
Military operation demolitions account for 65.5% of all demolitions 82 and usually occur during IOF military operations
or for the building of military infrastructures requiring clearing Palestinians from their land. Israel often tries to
legitimize home demolitions under military necessity by arguing that the house sheltered a wanted person. During
house demolitions that take place during military incursions, the Israeli army fails to give adequate warning to
inhabitants that their home is about to be destroyed, often as little as fifteen minutes, or without prior warning at
all. 83 Between 2004 and 2010, 118 houses were demolished in the West Bank for military purposes. 84
Administrative demolitions account for 26% of home demolitions and are carried out in response to improper
documentation, lack of a building permit, or in some cases, a single infraction. 85 Most of these types of demolitions
take place in “Area C” and East Jerusalem. As previously discussed, Palestinians have had no choice but to build
“illegally” due to the ICA’s discriminatory denial of essential permits to build new homes. From 1987 until 2010, at
least 5,156 Palestinian homes in the West Bank were demolished because they were built without permits. 86 The
average household in the surveyed population has 7.4 people, 87 leaving the population affected by home demolitions
significantly higher than one would imagine. The demolitions that took place from 2006-2010 due to lack of building
permits, for example, made at least 2,483 Palestinians homeless (from 275 homes destroyed). 88
Evictions and Forced Displacement of Herders and Bedouin Communities
“Area C” is populated by herding communities and Bedouins who live on “state lands” or military zones and are subject
to the constant threat of eviction and forced displacement. The terms “eviction” or “forced displacement” are used
for these communities, rather than home demolition, because they live a semi-nomadic lifestyle and their villages
or camps are often made of weak structures that do not qualify as the type of homes relevant in the case of “illegal”
building on private land. Evictions, however, are usually followed by destruction of the camp and of all water and
agricultural facilities.
Due to their fluid relation to the land, Bedouins and herders are more easily evicted by the ICA than any other
Palestinian community. Most do not formally own the land they live on. Some have a "kushan," or ownership papers
given by the Jordanian Authorities, but the majority use the land based on custom or adhoc agreements. 89 The ICA
refuses to recognize these informal types of ownership and accuses those communities of being illegally settled. 90
All Bedouins in “Area C” have received eviction orders at some point in time. 91 Bedouin tribes living between Jerusalem
and Jericho, along the Jordan Valley, or close to Jewish settlements, are particularly targeted by the ICA and the
78 Badil, The British Mandate,
79 IV Geneva Convention, Article 33 “No protected person may be punished for an offence he or she has not personally committed. Collective penalties and
likewise all measures of intimidation or of terrorism are prohibited.”
80 Jeff Halper, Obstacles to Peace: A Reframing of the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict, 2005, pp. 62.
81 ICAHD, Statistics on House Demolitions 1967-2010, op. cit.
82 Ibid.
83 Deputy Military Commander Colonel Shuki Rinsky claimed that “if there will continue to be a danger to soldiers, we will continue to destroy houses without
giving prior warning.” Al-Haq, “Waiting for Justice,” Annual Report 2004, p. 124. Taken from “Court Rejects Petition to Prevent Further Rafah Demolitions,” in
Haaretz, 16 May 2004.
84 B’tselem, Statistics on Houses Demolished for Alleged Military Purposes, viewed on 15/2/2011
85 ICAHD, Statistics on House Demolitions 1967-2010, op. cit.
86 ICAHD, Statistics on House Demolitions 1967-2010, op. cit.
87 Joint UNRWA – UNICEF – WFP Household Survey, Food Security and Nutrition Survey of Herding Communities In “Area C,” April 2010, p. 13.
88 B’Tselem, Statistics on Demolition of Houses Built Without Permits in the West Bank, op. cit.
89 Rosemary Sayigh, The West Bank Bedouins: The new refugees Badil 2000.
90 Ibid.
91 Ibid.
22