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Wednesday, August 03, 2011

PalArab homes demolished. One killed. Media silent.

Last Sunday, a Hamas policeman was killed. The story did not get much attention; the English language Palestinian Arab media did not seem to cover it.

It turns out that the circumstances were even more interesting:

At approximately 23:30 on Sunday, 31 July 2011, medical staff at al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City announced the death of Majed Hamdan Karam, 23, a police officer from al-Tufah neighborhood in Gaza City. Karam died of wounds he sustained that afternoon in an armed clash in Juhor al-Dik village. He was on duty with Palestinian police and they were accompanied by officials from the Ministry of Awqaf (religious affairs) and a bulldozer in order to enforce the court ruling. The force headed to a plot owned by the Ministry of Awqaf. The plot was used by the Abu Thaher family who built three houses on the plot. Three families lived in the houses. As the force started bulldozing the three houses, members of the Abu Thaher family and members of the Abu Hein family intervened to stop the demolition. The police arrested four persons, and partially destroyed the houses which are now uninhabitable. While the police were leaving the village, gunmen who are relatives of two of the detainees approached them. The gunmen are believed to be members of a Palestinian armed group. An armed clash took place between the police and the gunmen. Two of the gunmen and three policemen, including Karam, were wounded as a result. The wounded were transferred to the al-Shifa Hospital for medical treatment. The wounds of Karam were gravely serious and he was pronounced dead on the same day.

It is only an outrage to evacuate and bulldoze illegal buildings when it is Jews doing the evacuation and demolition. If Arabs do it, well, hey, it's the law.

By the way, if Gaza was really occupied by Israel, then Israel would have the right to demolish homes there as well. Occupiers by definition are ultimately responsible for administrative issues like zoning and building.

Just sayin'.

(h/t My Right Word)