Israel's High Court rules to seal room of Palestinian home
JUNE 17, 2015 11:55 P.M. (UPDATED: JUNE 17, 2015
JERUSALEM (Ma’an) -- The Israeli High Court on Tuesday
ruled that a room in the home of a Palestinian family residing in the
al-Thuri neighborhood of Jerusalem must be sealed, family members said.
Uday
Hijazi told Ma’an that the room slated for permanent closure was the
bedroom of his brother Muataz, 32, who was shot dead by undercover
Israeli officers on suspicion that he shot and critically wounded
activist Yehuda Glick in October 2014.
A lawyer representing Glick recommended that the court should order the complete demolition of the family house, Hijazi said.
The
family, he added, hasn’t yet received any reports from the Israeli
authorities with the findings of an alleged investigation into the
“targeted-assassination of Muataz," and relatives are still waiting to
receive belongings confiscated by Israeli forces confiscated after
Muataz' death.
US-born
Glick is a radical rightist who leads controversial visits under
Israeli armed guard to the Al-Aqsa mosque compound and advocates for the
mosque's replacement with a Jewish temple.
Hours
after an attack on Glick, Israeli forces shot Muataz over 20 times
during a raid on his home, with relatives saying that he was
deliberately killed by Israeli police when he could have been detained
and given due process.
The
decision by the High Court to seal Muataz' bedroom and appeal by
Glick's lawyer to demolish the family's home come as Israeli policies
use home demolitions as a punitive measure against Palestinians living
in occupied East Jerusalem and the West Bank.
In
the case of car attacks on Israelis by Palestinians earlier this year,
Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the demolition of the homes of the
attackers in an effort to deter future attacks.
This
policy of punitive demolitions received criticism due to the fact that
demolitions punished individuals who hadn't committed crimes, the family
and often-times extended family of the attacker.
Following
an initial demolition order issued by Israeli authorities to the Hijazi
family earlier this year, Israeli rights group B'Tselem said that
punitive house demolitions are "fundamentally wrong" and contravene
"basic moral standards by punishing people for the misdeeds of others,"
arguing that such policies exacerbate tensions rather than deter future
attacks.
Human
Rights Watch documented five separate instances where Israeli forces
demolished or sealed the homes of Palestinians suspected of killing
Israelis in 2014, estimating dozens of family members were left homeless
as a result.
The Hijazi family did not specify on Tuesday the expected date of the closure of Muataz' room.
No comments:
Post a Comment