Two More Homes Receive Demolition Notices in Nabi Saleh

ALISON RAMER - TAMIMI PRESS - On Sunday, Palestinian Independence Day and the day before a week long holiday in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, two villagers in Nabi Saleh received notice from the Israeli Civil Administration that their houses must be demolished in one week’s time. According to the notice, they can either demolish their own homes or to pay the Israeli Civil Administration after they demolish them. Both houses were built with permission from the Israeli Civil Administration in 1978 and 1980. Since then, they have each added an extension of one room (an inclosed porch and a kitchen) to the homes. While both homes reside in area C, one of the homes is built in area B as well.

Due to the urgency of the situation, the Israeli Committee Against Housing Demolition will issue a letter to the Israeli Civil Administration requesting a delay in the demolition due the holiday and explaining that the families and lawyers are unable to deal with the matter this week.

Since December 2009, when settlers from Halamish furthered their illegal confiscation of the villagers land and the Israeli army refused to protect the villagers, the villagers joined the unarmed struggle against the occupation, or the Popular Struggle. Since then, they received ten housing demolition orders. The previous orders targeted the homes of leaders in the struggle and were issued several months in advance of the date of demolition. On the other hand, the two new orders were issued just one week in advance, falling on the first day of a week long holiday where no lawyers are working. ”These housing demolition orders have been placed on these houses in order to put further pressure on us to stop the demonstrations and the resistance,” said Bassam Tamimi, one of the leaders of the resistance and a previous recipient of a housing demolition order.