Letter to AG: Stop Demolishing Arab Homes

Dear Sirs,

I write in response to the government’s recent stepped-up policy of forceful demolition of Arab citizens’ homes. In recent months, State authorities have demolished the homes of many Arab families using aggressive force. For example, on 9 May 2001, the State demolished two homes belonging to the Genami family in the unrecognized village of Gatamat in the Negev. At the end of June 2001, the State demolished a home belonging to an Arab family in Ramle. On 8 July 2001, special armed forces attacked residents in the unrecognized village of Abu El-Jia’an, when they arrived to serve the demolition orders on the homes of residents. Residents heard members of the forces say, “We are the Unit for Bedouin Education, and we will educate you.”

On 25 June 2001, during a conference of the Jewish National Fund, the Minister of National Infrastructure spoke against the residents of the unrecognized villages in the Negev and the lack of determination on behalf of the authorities to demolish the homes of these residents. In his speech, he said, “There is not enough determination to drive the Bedouins from state land … you need 500 cops to demolish an illegal [Bedouin’s] house and weeks to prepare for it.”1 Unfortunately, this is not the first time that the Minister of National Infrastructure has chosen to speak against the community of the unrecognized villages. 2

According to data from the Ministry of the Interior, there are about 24,000 illegal buildings in the unrecognized villages.3 Looking blindly at such numbers, it would seem as though the villagers make a public sport out of illegal construction. However, there are so many illegal buildings in the unrecognized villages because the State has excluded these villages from both local and national building plans. Thus, the residents cannot even request the necessary building permits for legal construction. In addition, according to the planning authorities, the law bans not only new construction in the unrecognized village, but also the very presence of residents in these villages. With all due respect, we must disagree with this legal reasoning.

Again, according to the data from the Ministry of the Interior, there are also 22,000 illegal buildings in the center and north of the State of Israel. Of these, about 16,000 are in predominantly Jewish towns, including kibbutzim and moshavim.4 Furthermore, in these areas, there are more than 7,400 commercial buildings built on land considered as agricultural, which therefore stand in violation of the law. Yet, these illegal buildings in the Jewish towns have not faced legal processes that aim at demolishing buildings. On the contrary, the government makes a great effort to legalize these buildings.5

In many cases, when the State wishes to demolish the home of an Arab citizen, the State argues before the Court that the house stands on land designated as agricultural. The State uses this argument even in cases in which the building in question existed before the government enacted the legislation that defined agricultural lands, e.g. The National Planning and Building Law (1965). In many cases, the State initiates the legal process of demolition against Arab citizens’ homes long after these citizens had begun living in their houses.6

In the meantime, up to 1998, the State saw fit to give 68,000 dunams of land to large, individually owned farms. Of this land, 66,000 dunams was agricultural land.

We cannot help but get the impression that the State employs a disparate policy as it demolishes buildings in Israel. While one community, simply to find adequate housing, must face the rule of a law that is blind to the neglect and hostility wielded by the planning authorities against them, another community enjoys the peddling hand of the law, manifested by governmental efforts to legalize their actions.

Furthermore, this unequal treatment contributes to the violation of the right to dignity, already experienced by the homeless of Israel. The Israeli Supreme Court has recognized that living without a home violates one’s human dignity. Rendering a person homeless does not, therefore, meet the duty of the authorities to respect human dignity according to the Basic Law: Human Dignity and Freedom (1992). In H.C. 4905/98, Prof. Joseph Gamazo vs. Nama Yisha’ia, et. al., the Supreme Court ruled that:

“A person without a home has their human dignity violated. A person who needs bread has their human dignity violated. A person who does not have access to elemental medical treatment has their human dignity violated. A person who is forced to live in substandard conditions has their human dignity violated.” 7

The United Nations human rights conventions ratified by Israel all recognize the elemental right of an adequate standard of living. For example, Article 11(1) of the International Convention on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights (1966) determined that:

“11(1). The States Parties to the present Covenant recognize the right of everyone to an adequate standard of living for himself and his family, including adequate food, clothing and housing, and to the continuous improvement of living conditions. The States Parties will take appropriate steps to ensure the realization of this right, recognizing to this effect the essential importance of international co-operation based on free consent.”

(See also Article 25 (1), Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948); Article 5 (e.III), Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Racial Discrimination (1965); Article 14 (2H), Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (1979); and Article 27 (3), Convention of the Rights of the Child (1989)).

It is clear that the question of illegal construction is a national problem that goes to the root of the Israeli land system and also reveals the attitude of those responsible for the various populations in Israel. We believe that the solution to illegal construction cannot rest in aggressively demolishing homes. In the context discussed above, home demolition cannot hide behind the veil of the rule of law and remain within a constitutional sphere at the same time.

Therefore, I ask you to stop applying the discriminatory policy of house demolition against Arab citizens. I also ask that you adopt a plan to solve the problem of illegal building in the country in a way that is compatible with the right to human dignity, which includes the right to a home.