Israel’s Policy Against Housing VIolations: A Contrast Between Enforcment in the Jewish and Arab Sectors

Three years ago, Ehud Olmert, in his final year as Mayor of Jerusalem, cooperated in the publication of a 170 page study entitled “Illegal Housing in Jerusalem”, http://jcpa.org/jlmbldg.htm, published by the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, and directed by former UN Ambassador Dr. Dore Gold.

That study concluded that the construction of more than 6000 unlawful buildings in the Arab neighborhoods in Jerusalem had reached “epidemic proportions”.

The study advised strong action from Israel’s law enforcement establishment.

Now Olmert, as acting Prime Minister,refuses to discuss enforcement of the law in regard to enforcing the law in regard to illegal buildings in the Arab sector in Jerusalem.

Yet Olmert dispatched thousands of troops to remove nine homes built by Jews.

On Sunday, January 29th, ISRAEL RESOURCE NEWS AGENCY posed a formal question to the office of the Prime Minister to inquire about whether, indeed, Olmert will enforce the law concerning thousands of illegal homes in Jerusalem.

An official source in the prime minister’s office responded that just before his second stroke, Prime Minister Sharon ordered a special unit in the police to enforce the law in regard to these illegal homes in Jerusalem, and referred reporters to the Israeli police.

However, the Israeli police spokesman answered t that the special unit in charge of enforcement of the building violations had received no recent authorization to function, but that some demolitions had taken place.

The Prime Minister’s office was again asked about the principle of enforcing the law concerning thousands of illegal Arab homes, while the Israeli government was investing unprecedented energy to demolish unauthorized Jewish homes.

The Prime Minister’s spokesman, Assaf Shariv, responded that “this year, the Israeli government had destroyed five times the amount of Arab homes in Jerusalem that it had destroyed in Gush Katif”. That would mean Israel had 4,000 Arab homes in Israel’s capital.

However, The Israel Committee Against Home Demolitions, the organization that expresses virulent opposition to Israeli home demolition policies in the Arab sector, told ISRAEL RESOURCE NEWS AGENCY that exactly 92 Arab homes had been destroyed in Jerusalem over the past three years. Not 4,000.

Yet PM Spokesman Shariv stuck to his figures, and referred reporters, once more, to the police.

Police Spokesman Mickey Rosen repeated that the police have received no authorization to act.

The reality remains that the government of Israel use thousands of troops to destroy Jewish homes and will not do the same for the Arab sector.