An Initial Report About Today's House Demolitions, Sunday, March 2dn, in Kfar Ka by Taayush - translated by IMC 12:12am Mon Mar 3 '03 print comment Village residents woke up this morning to a new reality; hundreds of police officers, amongst them special crowd dispersal units, spread out throughout the village at dawn, raising checkpoints and panic. At the villages valley bulldozers began the demolition of 18 homes. The houses were built on private lands seized by Israel during the 70's. Last April Israel Land Authorities put out demolition orders for the 18 home which were under construction. The police notified the residents that they would not execute the demolitions after the holidays. In response the residents filed an appeal with the court to delay the demolition orders and resolve ownership issues. During court proceedings a decision was reached to freeze construction until September, and that each resident would pay a fine of 4000NIS. Meanwhile, the court ruled that both sides were to reach an agreement by September, wherein the lands would be sold back to their original owners. In doing so, the court recognized in the residents' right to their lands. Residents did their part paying their fine (which the court allowed to be paid in installments) and froze all construction. Still, Israel Land Authorities refused to recognize the court's decision and partake in negotiations with the residents. This morning, without notice, and with a direct disregard of the court's ruling, the Israel Land Authority demolished the homes. The resident's attempt at displaying the police the court's ruling cost them immediate arrests. Lately, we have been witnessing a sharp rise in house demolitions within Arab communities; in Lod and Ramle, in Ara, Jaffa - and now also in Kfar Kassem. This is an attempt by Israeli authorities to delegitimize the Arab community, by utilizing the racist-apathetic public opinion of the Jewish community in Israel. taayush.org add your comments