in spite of recent news about the increased economic activities in nablus–salam fayyed’s idea of a palestinian state, new house demolitions come to nablus:
The homes in question are located in the Sawiya district in the city of Nablus, in the northern West Bank, an area with few Israeli settlements — although Israeli settlers have announced plans to expand the settlements located there.
“The Israeli decision constitutes a serious turning point in the development of Israeli attacks on Palestinian human rights,” said the Center for Human Rights and Democracy in a statement released on Friday. The group said that it is concerned that these 55 demolitions will set a precedent for further demolitions in areas that are supposed to be under Palestinian control.
Israeli forces have recently stepped up the rate of home demolitions, mainly in the East Jerusalem area, with the stated aim of creating “facts on the ground” that will be difficult to turn back if peace negotiations begin between Israel and the Palestinian Authority.
Israeli home demolitions of Palestinian homes have been condemned on multiple occasions by the United Nations, as such demolitions are grave violations of international law. Home demolitions nearly always accompany Israeli construction and expansion of settlement colonies on the areas where the demolitions take place.
You might like to know that Jerusalem Quarterly has published a chapter of Eyal Weizman’s book Hollow Land: Israel’s Architecture of Occupation (2007), on Israel’s use of urban planning and architectural policy to force Palestinians to leave Jerusalem, as a free download:
http://www.jerusalemquarterly.org/ViewArticle.aspx?id=299
I’ve written a brief summary in Arabic here:
http://benjamingeer.blogspot.com/2009/09/blog-post_20.html