Palestinians Begin Anti-Corruption Effort

[drdon326]

A Palestinian bulldozer on Monday demolished the seaside homes of three senior officers who built illegally on public land in Gaza, the start of what the Palestinian government promises will be a relentless campaign against corruption.

snip

To carry out Abbas' mission, one bulldozer guarded by seven jeeps and 30 Palestinian officers entered the Sudania area on the coast of northern Gaza on Monday morning to crush the three homes, which were being built by a major, a lieutenant colonel and a colonel on public land they illegally seized. The operation encountered no resistance.

Construction on the two-story concrete houses, which had a clear view of the Mediterranean 300 feet away, was almost finished. One house was surrounded by a small flower garden. After the demolition crews left, some sheep and two donkeys fed on the remains of the garden.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/05/02/AR2005050200116.html

...................................................................

Palestinians Bulldozers ? Destroying homes ? I find that hard to believe.

[drdon326]

1. Apparently...abbas's early crack down of corruption....

is to bulldoze homes.

Will there be calls for a boycott of Caterpillar?

Will the EU CONDEMN this ?

Will the ICJ CONVENE over this ?

Will Kofi, the fair man that he is, call for restraint?


I FEEL the outrage swelling over the use of this "barbaric" tactic here now however.

I can sense the moral indignation pulsating and quivering here now over the inhumane use of bulldozers.

Fortuneately,the sheep and two donkeys seem to be happy.






edit:sp

[pelsar]

2. its not the first...

last week they bulldozed a resturant on the beach, among other buildings, the owners complained that they were given no warning time at all, infact the patrons of the resturant had to leave while the bullldozer started to work...but no dont hold your breath for the moral outrage.....it wont be coming.

[drdon326]

3. No, no,no.....

I REALLY feel the moral outrage boiling up over using bulldozers.


btw....at least the patrons at the restaurant had the IQ enough to stand clear of a bulldozer.

[pelsar]

4. the owners....

they actually took it very well, in the interview they were pissed at the way the PA came, claimed it was good to see some law and order, and when the bulldozer left, they set up the tables again and started serving on the floor space that was clear.

[drdon326]

5. Outrageous !!

I am outraged at the lack of respect for INTERNATIONAL LAW.

Whhhhhy.....I know I share EVERYONES DISGUST here at the use of bulldozers to destroy homes.

[drdon326]

6. Oh btw....any news on those sheep and donkeys ?

[Guy_Montag]

11. Probably been poisoned by...

never mind.

[drdon326]

14. Well......not to worry........at least they were smart enough...

to get the hell away from a bulldozer.

That simple concept was apparently lost to others.

[Guy_Montag]

9. This is an internal matter & therefore not covered by international law

It is imposed on the people by an elected government, not by an military, occupation force.

The houses were destroyed because they were illegally built, the same thing would happen (and has) here in the UK.

The IDF often destroy homes for the purposes of "security", to make room for settlements, or as collective punishment. See post 7.

So, there are rather distinct differences, do you not think.

Or should I come & build a house on your front garden & see how you react?

[newyorican]

12. All right buster...

STOP clouding the issue with facts!

[pelsar]

15. almost correct.....

just to straighten out a minor mistake....homes arent destroyed to make room for settlements...as they are in different geographical places (settlements on hilltops, palestenian homes in the valleys. (though there may be the occasional exception that I dont know about, as I dont know of every single home....)

but the jist of the matter, is that when palestenians bulldoze their own home, execute homosexuals, kill real estate dealers....it is an internal matter.

I would say what "bugs" many of us is that the "anti-occupation" crowd many times disguses itself as worrying about the daily lives of the palestenians. That is not always the case. For if that same crowd is worried about the simple Palestinian welfare, he or she has a lot of work to do in Gaza, once the pullout is complete....human rights, civil rights, justice, poverty, corruption, etc

However, I suspect we will see a drop off in the interest of gaza as what happens there will be considered their own internal affairs and none of anybodys business. And I'm sure the PA or whomever is in control will explain that very clearly to any "left wing" intl humanitrian "do goody" who comes by to protect the simple palestenian.

It will then become obvious to some that the protests against israel is not so much for the palestenian welfare but against an occupying western power. That in itself has legitimacy, it just doesnt have to have the hypocrasy of being wrapped up in the "humanitarian flag,

[Englander]

7. PA - 1...... IDF - 3000

"18 May 2004

More than 3,000 homes, vast areas of agricultural land and hundreds of other properties have been destroyed by the Israeli army and security forces in Israel and the Occupied Territories in the past three and a half years. Tens of thousands of men, women and children have been made homeless or have lost their livelihood. Thousands of other houses have been damaged, and tens of thousands of others are under threat of demolition, their occupants living in fear of homelessness. House demolitions are usually carried out without warning, often at night, and the occupants are forcibly evicted with no time to salvage their belongings. Often the only warning is the rumbling of the Israeli army’s US-made Caterpillar bulldozers beginning to tear down the walls of their homes. The victims are often amongst the poorest and most disadvantaged. In most cases the justification given by the Israeli authorities for the destruction is "military/security needs", while in other cases it is the lack of building permits. The result is the same: families are left homeless and destitute, forced to rely on relatives, friends and humanitarian organizations for shelter and subsistence.

House demolition has been a long-standing policy in the Occupied Territories and in the Arab sector in Israel. However, in the past three and a half years the scale of the destruction has reached an unprecedented level. The destruction of Palestinian homes, agricultural land and other property in the Occupied Territories, is inextricably linked to Israel’s long-standing policy of appropriating as much as possible of the land it occupies, notably by establishing Israeli settlements in violation of international law. In Israel it is essentially the homes of Palestinian citizens of Israel (Israeli Arabs) which are targeted for demolition. The phenomenon is linked to the state’s policy of large-scale confiscation of land, restrictive planning regulations and discriminatory policies in the allocation of state land which makes it difficult or impossible for Israeli Arabs to obtain building permits."

AmnestyInternational

[Behind the Aegis]

8. Tit for tat?

So, let me understand this, because Israel has done this, which was considered illegal and a call for international outrage, it is now OK for the Palestinians to do the same? I wonder how people will react when/if Israel pulls the same thing...meaning, they do something to the Palestinians because it was done to them? I bet I know how people will react! ;)

[drdon326]

10. Exactly.

.

[Englander]

17. Do you understand why the IDF demolitions are illegal?

There are a few paragraphs in the AI report I linked to,which deal specifically with why the IDF demolitions are considered illegal.Try reading them,& see if they help to further yer understanding of the issue.

It's not "tit for tat",is it? The PA bulldozers are not destroying Israeli homes,are they? They're not destroying homes,on any Israeli land that the PA are illegally occupying ,are they?The correct analogy would be if the IDF were to demolish any illegally built homes,in Israel.

And to make it clearer;

The PA destroys an illegally built,unoccupied,unfinished house.

The IDF illegally destroys occupied homes, x3000.

[pelsar]

16. Englander.....

3000 to 1....does that mean were winning? (just kidding..adding a bit of humor to a very "dry place)

[drdon326]

13. Funny how....

there were no ISM members or their Corrie-oids around to protest and block the destruction of houses.

And Ive looked and ...big surprise...no pictures.