arch/ive/ief (2000 - 2005)

Today residents 9 additional homes are homeless as a result of Jerusalem Municipality's attempt to demolish 17 homes. One of the remaining homes received a restraining order, while the remainder received a 24 hour reprieve in order to appeal further. As usual in the last year, the
Municipality did not allow the families time to exercise their legal rights of appeal. A number of families received their orders only the night before. One woman received her order this morning as the marauding representatives of the Municipality showed her the order which had been stuck on the wall of her home. Another had thought that his house was safe pending a court discussion which had not yet taken place. Others were in the midst of paying fines on their homes.

I along with Israeli Committee Against House demolitions Coordinator Jeff Halper, Liad Taub and Gabi Wolf ran first to the Municipal Court and then to Issawiyah when we understood that not all the families were represented and that demolitions were already underway. Liad, Gabi and
myself were stopped while Jeff was able unnoticed to get close to the bulldozers. Police became angry when I continued to take pictures of them and point out that they were violating the 4th Geneva convention. The three of us were voluntarily leaving the area until, instead of merely asking us to return to our car as they originally requested, we were told that we were being detained. At that point we went limp. Liad was beaten by an Ethiopian border policeman with his rifle but after he asked her if she liked Arabs and she replied that she as against all racism, including racism against people of color. Jeff, who sat down closer to the bulldozers, was also
beaten and his glasses taken. Liad and Gabi were further beaten in order to force them into the police van. Police and border guards refused our demands that we be given the names of the perpetrators as the law requires. At that point we told them that we would cooperate 100% as soon as they obeyed the law, but would not hand over our remaining mobile phone or allow them to close the door to the van and leave the area until we received the names. Eventually, Gabi and I were beaten, kicked, punched and hit with batons for not allowing officers to reach Liad and her phone. I will have my arm checked out by a doctor tomorrow and we will lodge a complaint to the police inspection unit. (As all this was happening I could only think of my high school football coach's assertion that if we made it through preseason we would be prepared for whatever challenges life would offer. Thank you Coach Bestwick.) On site and at the Russian compound we were promised that we would be given an opportunity to identify the violent officers. Of course this did not happen. Some of this I have on film. The police wanted to confiscate the film, but I did not allow them.

Spending some five hours with a number of police officers, we had a great deal of time to talk. A few eventually acknowledged that we were right on the issues. Most were silent as we asked whether it was just to prevent people from having a reasonable chance of receiving a legal building permit and then destroying the homes they are forced to build without permits, or asked them how they would feel if their families were treated in this way. What was most amazing was the fact that they told us that, not only did their training include nothing about their obligations under international law, but not even Israeli jurisprudence about legal and illegal orders.
(They do learn about Israeli law.)

B'Vrakha,
Rabbi Arik Ascherman
.