Report: 0.5m Palestinian citizens of Israel denied building permits

Over half a million Palestinians living in Israel are denied permission to build houses on their land, while 100,000 demolition and eviction orders have been issued to them in recent years, according to a special report compiled by Safa news agency.

The report indicates that Palestinians living in Israel face a serious land and housing crisis due to successive Israeli governments that have stifled them and limited their numbers. It is estimated that there are approximately 1.7 million Palestinian citizens of Israel.

An official of the Committee for the Defence of Land and Housing in Ara village near Haifa in northern Israel, Ahmed Melhem, told Safa that more than 60 per cent of the existing Palestinian homes in lands occupied in 1948 do not have building permits and lack detailed construction maps, because Israeli governments have deliberately neglected all the Palestinian towns.

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He explained that while the Palestinian residents have received 100,000 demolition orders, building violations, or fines imposed, Jews who commit building violations are treated differently by the government, with the policy being to “settle the violations”.

According to the Palestinian official, more than 90 per cent of the demolition orders issued against Palestinians are implemented while demolition orders issued to the Jews population are settled.

He warned that the Israeli governments’ policies have forced 5,000 residents to emigrate, which is part of the occupation state’s plan.

“We, as Palestinians at home, are known to travel for reasons of either study or work and then return, but those who emigrated did not return,” he added.

Furthermore, he added, the Israeli institutions are leading an economic attack on all Palestinian facilities in Israel and their interests by issuing so-called administrative violations.

“The administrative violations mean that the aggrieved party cannot go to court to appeal or otherwise, and has to pay 600,000 shekels ($165,575) within two months, to avoid destroying his economic facility, and after that he has to pay for the licence,” Melhem explained.

“Of course, the fine is very high, and it is not within the power of most of the owners of economic establishments, factories, etc., and therefore the Palestinian becomes trapped between either demolishing the facility or leaving it to go work in Tel Aviv or cities with a Jewish majority.

Melhem warned that if pressure continues on the Palestinians, a confrontation is inevitable.

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