The first horrible thing about looking at the pictures in the Palestinian town of Rakeez in the mountains of South Hebron happens even before two pictures are heard, when it is found lying on the ground, while members his family shouting for help.
The panic is the result of Palestinians witnessing the opposition of the soldiers physically trying to retrieve their generator. Harun himself tries to save the generator with such determination that he loses his sandals.
Harun Abu ‘Aram lies on the ground after being killed by IDF soldiers tearing down his home
Palestinians rarely oppose such demolition or surrender.
Looking at these films reveals that most Palestinians are so large that they do not find themselves doing more than arguing, swearing, or filming the overthrow. left homeless and exposed to sunny summer sun or winter storms.
Take for example a video from the demolition wave in December, where Civil Administration contract workers are seen removing a lump with a tin roof in the community of Zar’i (Za’atrah), which is close to the town of – Za’ayem.
The camera, which is a homeowner’s, does not engage at all and stands to one side, reporting his anger to the video’s soundtrack. And here’s another video, where a group of Bedouins from Ras ‘Ein al-’Auja are seen sitting and watching while a Civil Administration spy machine knocks down and puts off their residential and agricultural shacks.
Two young men who are arguing with the soldiers are pushed back. Scroll further down and you’ll see another video from November, where a bull machine demolishes Abu ‘Aram’s family home – the only Harun Abu‘ Aram that is currently lying paralyzed from the neck down at Al- Ahli in Hebron.
Memorial of the event organized by local Palestinians
(Photo: Elior Tax)
Family members are standing near the condemned structure, as one woman is filming on her mobile phone. Two mothers sit and look at plastic chairs with the young daughter of the hoes.
Documents from another demolition, this time a home in which there was a family of 19 in the al-Khalediah area, show them protesting, setting tires on fire, and climbing on the roof of their home.
That complaint was quickly stopped by Border Police tear gas canisters. Other videos clearly show the reason for the lack of conflict – civilian administrators are regularly abducted by major military forces and the Border Police, just to prevent such ideas from entering. to the heads of the Palestinian subjects.
What prompted Abu ‘Aram and his family to try to resist so calmly (and with bare hands) the introduction of their generator last Friday? What was so special about this event?
The IDF Spokesman’s laconic and unrelated statement got one thing right: “Yesterday, IDF forces carried out routine seizure work on machines used for illegal construction.”
In fact, Palestinian construction in small towns like Rakeez has always been “illegal construction.”
That’s how it is when only Israel determines what is legal and its policies are changed to prevent Palestinians from building legally.
No matter how many summary plans and permit applications Palestinians submit and how many times they prove it is their own land – they will not receive building permits. The town’s residents in the Masafer Yatta area have never been given such permits. Time.
Israel has long de facto occupied this area and will not allow this Palestinian community – which has adopted a way of living based on herding and dry land farming long before the creation of the state. – build legally in their villages, who do not acknowledge their existence.
Israel’s deportation and capture policy is not only implemented in the Masafer Yatta area.
In 60% of the West Bank, which remains under Israeli planning control, planning mechanisms work to stop Palestinian development – including residential construction, public utilities, water and electricity infrastructure, and roads.
Most Palestinians have long since given up and are not even bothering to apply for permission. In cases where Palestinians submitted consent applications, the Civil Administration accepted only 1.4% of the applications.
A local Palestinian boy stands beside a memorial to what happened
(Photo: elio levy)
This is, of course, very different from settlers, who have a generous planning system and building permits. Even the settlements they established are looked back on apparently at odds with the decisions of Israeli planning institutes in the West Bank but with full state support.
The IDF Spokesman was right when he said that the military mission was completely normal.
Armed soldiers and civilian administrative officers and workers, who also happened in this case as an armed officer – usually do work such as the introduction of a generator or bulldozer in the Palestinian communities from here. wounded on the West Bank, to prevent them. communities from building and developing according to their needs.
Demolition and importation of Palestinian property is a routine task that one does not even worry about why combat units are deployed to carry out civilian actions such as enforcement of planning and construction laws.
However, a close look at the reality on the ground reveals that Israel sees Palestinian development as a key objective designed to strengthen its control of the West Bank.
The military phrase “The campaign across region C” – is used by politicians from all areas of the political spectrum, from the right settler to the radical center, to describe the unstable harassment of Israel in these communities. – banging the nail on the head.
This is indeed a standard military operation, and the victims of Palestine are well aware, in the current reality, that life is so useless, if they try to resist it, perhaps that they find themselves in Harun Abu ‘Aram sandals.
Sarit Michael is International Advocacy Officer at B’Tselem – Israel Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories