[Your address]
[Date]

[Your MP’s name]
House of Commons
London SW1A 0AA

Dear [your MP’s name] MP
Subject: Urgent – Home demolition in Al-Walajah 

I am writing to bring to your attention an urgent humanitarian situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

In April 2017, a group of 35 UK volunteers from Amos Trust assisted in rebuilding the home of Mahmoud Mahmoud Maher Abu Khyara in the West Bank village of Al-Wallajah. His original house had been destroyed by the Israeli Defence Force in 2016, despite it being built on land his family had owned for generations.

On Monday 17th May 2023, Mahmoud and his wife Inas, who is expecting their fourth child, received a new demolition order from the Jerusalem Municipality (together with a further five houses in the Ein Juweza district of Al-Walajah village). This stated that his home was built without permission and that he had 21 days to demolish it, otherwise the Municipality would destroy it and he will be liable for the demolition costs. 

An additional 30-day extension was granted following a request by the Norwegian Refugee Council. At the same time, the lawyer representing the residents of these structures, Mr Ghaiat Nasser, filed an administrative petition and a request for an interim injunction. 

The Jerusalem District Court refused to issue an injunction. On 6th August, the state submitted its response to the court, asking it to reject the petition and the request for an interim injunction. On 9th August, Mr Nasser submitted his response to the Jerusalem District Court. On 10th August, the Jerusalem District Court dismissed the petition and the request for an interim injunction on behalf of the six families in Al-Walajah.

This means that the 6 homes can be demolished at any time by the National Enforcement Unit and that Mahmoud, his family and five other families will be made homeless with no hope of being able to build again.

The urgency of a response to this humanitarian crisis is vital, but this is also a symptom of the wider injustice of the Israeli policy of home demolitions and their planning policy in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. 

Please raise the following issues with the Foreign Secretary and ask that the UK Government — as a signatory to the Fourth Geneva Convention — acts immediately to bring an end to this crisis through:

• Calling for the demolition orders, considered illegal under international law, issued against the Abu Khyara family and the five other families in the Ein Juweza district of Al-Wallajah to be immediately rescinded.
  
  
• Demanding that Israel abides by international law and human rights obligations and that they fulfil their obligations to develop an equitable solution for urban development and planning in Al-Walajah and to retroactively approve these houses.

Yours sincerely,

[Your name]
— — — — — — —

Background
Al-Walajah

Al-Walajah is a small village located 3 miles south of Jerusalem and a similar distance north-west of Bethlehem. In 1948, the population of Al-Walajah fled their village. They moved across what was to become the Armistice line at the bottom of the valley onto their agricultural land to re-establish their community there. The residents of Al-Walajah are subject to demolitions, land confiscations and freedom of movement restrictions — all of which seek to displace Palestinians from the village. 

In 1967, after Israel seized control of East Jerusalem and the West Bank, they annexed East Jerusalem and an additional 64 square kilometres of the surrounding Palestinian villages and towns to create the Greater Jerusalem Municipality.  

The northern part of Al-Walajah (Ein Juweza district) was included in this annexation. This part of the village was split by the building of the Separation Wall, leaving the residential area on the Palestinian side of the Wall and the land on the Israeli side. Despite the annexation, the residents of Ein Juweza district have never been issued with Jerusalem residency ID documents, so they are caught in the absurd situation that they are technically illegally present in Jerusalem when they are in their homes.

The Al-Wallajah village committee has repeatedly tried to apply for permits to the Jerusalem Municipality for families to build on their land in the village. The Municipality has refused these, stating that their land is part of a Green Zone and therefore does not have an urban plan. 

Less than 1% of applications for building permits by Palestinian residents are approved in Greater Jerusalem. This leaves families no option but to build without permission and therefore run the inherent risk of incurring sanctions from the Israeli authorities. 

In 2020, six residential houses in the neighbourhood of Ein Juweza in Al-Walajah village, inhabited by 35 residents, received demolition orders. The demolition order was valid from 4th August 2020 until 4th August 2021, after which it expired.

In May, the National Enforcement Unit reopened the case, and on May 17th, the Jerusalem Municipality issued warnings to the families that if demolition did not occur within 21 days, the Municipality would demolish the homes and charge the families for the associated costs. 

On 1st June, an additional 30-day extension was granted following a request by the Norwegian Refugee Council to the Municipality Planning Committee. The lawyer representing the residents of these structures, Mr Ghaiat Nasser, filed an administrative petition and a request for an interim injunction, but the Jerusalem District Court refused to issue an injunction. 

On 6 August, the State submitted its response to the court, asking it to reject the petition and the request for an interim injunction. On 9 August, Mr Nasser submitted his response to the Jerusalem District Court. On 10 August, the Jerusalem District Court dismissed the petition and the interim injunction on behalf of the six families in Ein Juweza. This means that the six homes can be demolished at any time by the National Enforcement Unit, putting 35 people at risk of dispossession.

Ein Juweza consists of around 150 homes, most of which are considered illegal under Israeli law. According to the Al-Walajah Village Council, there are currently more than 158 pending demolition orders in the Ein Juweza area alone, including 50 residential buildings, although the residents are in the process of developing a structural plan for Ein Juweza to advance planning and urban development.

Mahmoud’s Story

Mahmoud’s family had been saving for many years to build a home for him, their eldest son, on the land next door to their main family home, which they have owned for generations. Mahmoud’s plot lies in the part of the village that was unilaterally annexed by Israel to the Greater Jerusalem Municipality in 1967, although they did not receive any of the benefits of being a resident in Jerusalem. 

In April 2016, as the house was nearing its completion, and with Mahmoud asleep inside, 80 members of the Israeli Defence Force surrounded the home and destroyed it. 

On hearing this story, Amos Trust and our local Palestinian partners, Holy Land Trust, set about raising the money to rebuild his home and recruited a UK-based volunteer team to work alongside the family and local builders on the reconstruction. 

Shortly after its completion in July 2017, Mahmoud received a demolition order on this new house and a fine from the Jerusalem Municipality Court for building without permission. Mahmoud paid this fine, and one year later, the demolition order lapsed. 

On Monday 29th May, he received a new demolition order from the Jerusalem Municipality stating that he had until 8th June to demolish his home, otherwise the Municipality would demolish it and he will be liable for the demolition costs. Mahmoud, Inas and their family will be made homeless with no hope of being able to build again.

An additional 30-day extension was granted following a request by the Norwegian Refugee Council, while the lawyer representing the residents of these structures, Mr Ghaiat Nasser, filed an administrative petition and a request for an interim injunction. 

The Jerusalem District Court refused to issue an injunction. On 6 August, the State submitted its response to the court, asking it to reject the petition and the request for an interim injunction. On 9 August, Mr Nasser submitted his response to the Jerusalem District Court. On 10 August, the Jerusalem District Court dismissed the petition and the request for an interim injunction on behalf of the six families in Al-Walajah.

This means that the six homes can be demolished at any time by the National Enforcement Unit and that Mahmoud, his family and five other families will be made homeless with no hope of being able to build again.