RSS Feeds
The world is a dangerous place to live; not because of the people who are evil,    but because of the people who don't do anything about it    
Occupation magazine - Life under occupation

Home page  back Print  Send To friend

Demolition of a children’s centre in Jerusalem
Demolition of a children's centre
This morning (10 May) the Jerusalem municipality demolished a building in the Wadi Joz neighbourhood in East Jerusalem that served the Iyat association and the Stars of Jerusalem association – children’s welfare organizations.

Seven children and two caregivers were sleeping in the centre when at about five thirty in the morning police and Border Guard forces arrived and knocked on the door forcefully and ordered the caregivers to evacuate the children. The alarmed caregivers telephoned the manager of the centre, Abdel Rahman, who asked the police for time to call the families of the children so that they could take them to their homes. The police did not agree to give him time to call and they began to remove the children by force. After two of the children were removed from the building by the policemen, the manager and the caregivers removed the remainder so as not to harm the children still more.

We have asked the Children’s Welfare Association to look into the incident that happened this morning, and we hope that they will raise a strong voice on the matter – it is unacceptable for the police to touch children – especially disabled children. To the extent that the children must be cared for, only social workers are authorized to intervene and apart from those no others have the right to touch the children.

The demolition is based on a final decision of the District Court.

The Iyat Association uses the centre for various activities. Among other things, there was a two-week summer camp for the children and an afternoon activities club. It is important to emphasize that all of the special-education schools in the east of the city are located in the Wadi Joz neighbourhood, near this Centre. That fact greatly facilitated access for and transport of the children. The Iyat Association searched for a long time for a suitable location for the schools, but it was not able to find such a place, due to a shortage of buildings and sky-high rents. Many modifications were done to the building in order to make it suitable for the needs of the children and it was in the process of undergoing further modifications.

Iyat is the only organization in all East Jerusalem that provides assistance, care and supervision to autistic children, to disabled and special-needs children, and many times it was forced to refuse to take on additional children, with all the pain involved in such a step.

Additional information:

Shai – the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD): 0506986964

Abdel Rahman – the Iyat Association – 0548121925

Dr. Meir Margalit – Field Coordinator of the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions – 0544345503

Ziad Kawar – Iyat Association’s attorney - 0522833892

mm
A Volvo backhoe being used to demolish a children's centre in occupied territory
Links to the latest articles in this section

In summer, West Bank towns have little water
In the Heart of Hebron, `America` is Light Years Away
Ramadan in Gaza: its in the details