Al Walaja

Partners for Progressive Israel Calls for an End to Evictions and Home Demolitions in Al Walaja

On March 30, Israel’s Supreme Court will hear the appeal of the residents of Al Walaja, an enclave between Jerusalem and the West Bank, north of Bethlehem. They are demanding approval of a master plan for their village that would legalize their own construction and prevent the displacement of 38 families, comprising about 300 people.

Ahead of that hearing, Partners for Progressive Israel calls for a revocation of all outstanding eviction orders and an end to evictions and home demolitions in Al Walaja. Since the Six Day War in 1967, Israeli authorities have failed to approve a master plan for Al Walaja and refused to grant building permits, making all new construction there illegal and subject to demolition. Dozens of homes currently are the subject of demolition orders.

The Palestinian people of Al Walaja live in a netherworld: One part of the village lies in annexed East Jerusalem, with the other part in the West Bank. But the entire village, even the part annexed by Israel, lies beyond Israel’s separation barrier, and neither the Jerusalem Municipality nor the State of Israel provides it with services, and residents rely on the Palestinian Authority for education, trash collection, and other basics.

It is time to put an end to the political use of construction permitting both in the West Bank and within the borders of Israel. Innocent people should not be made homeless through these cruel measures, motivated purely by discriminatory political aims.

UPDATE: Haaretz has reported that on Monday, March 21, 50 Democratic House members have asked Secretary of State Blinken to work with Israel to “prevent Israel from moving forward with the planned displacement of Palestinian families and the demolition of their homes in the West Bank village of Walaja.”