Demolished At 10 Minutes' Notice (1)
Palestinian Suhail Shabana sits on her sofa as an Israeli police officer gives her ten minutes to leave her house before it was demolished in Beit Hanina in east Jerusalem, Tuesday, Dec. 1, 2004. The Shabana family was given notice yesterday by Israeli authorities that the house was to be destroyed. Israeli authorities often demolish houses they say were built without permits.
(AP Photo/Kevin Frayer)
"In Jerusalem, Israel turned urban planning into a tool of the government, to be used to help prevent the expansion of the city’s non-Jewish population. It was a ruthless policy, if only for the fact that the needs (to say nothing of the rights) of Palestinian residents were ignored. Israel saw the adoption of strict zoning plans as a way of limiting the number of new homes build in Arab neighborhoods, and thereby ensuring that the Arab percentage of the city’s population – 28.8 in 1967 – did not grow beyond this level. Allowing “too many” new homes in Arab neighborhoods would mean “too many” Arab residents in the city. The idea was to move as many Jews as possible into East Jerusalem, and move as many Arabs as possible out of the city entirely."
Source: Rabbis For Human Rights - Jerusalem Home Demolitions