End of Year Push –A Glimmer of Hope in Walaja

Dear friends,

For those of you who celebrated Christmas yesterday, we hope you managed to find some light and joy despite the horrors continuing to emerge from the war. Christmas in East Jerusalem is typically a magical time; musical processions fill the Old City as the local Palestinian Christian community marks the holiday with its own unique rituals. Yet, this year the streets remained quiet as the hearts of East Jerusalem residents, many of whom have relatives in Gaza, are filled with sorrow and pain from the war that has claimed tens of thousands of their people’s lives. With heavy hearts, we send our heartfelt holiday wishes and prayers to all those affected as we envision a better future where the drums of war are silenced by melodies of peace. 

On December 10, we launched our end-of-year push and asked for your support as we continue the struggle for human rights and an agreed political future in Jerusalem against the backdrop of the war and its devastating impact. As the end of 2023 quickly approaches, we hope you’ll consider Ir Amim in your end-of-year giving and join us in the work to secure a more just, peaceful, and stable Jerusalem for all its inhabitants. 
 

The Journey to Secure Housing Rights and Planning Justice 

Among Ir Amim’s most critical work is the ongoing struggle against home demolitions and efforts to secure equitable planning rights for Palestinians. As a result of acute urban planning discrimination in East Jerusalem, Palestinian homes are disproportionately threatened with demolition under the pretext of lacking building permits. Yet, these permits are nearly impossible for Palestinians to obtain due to the absence of adequate zoning, which the Israeli authorities systematically neglect to advance or approve. Families are forced to build without these permits, placing their homes immediately at risk of demolition. While this policy is cruel and unjust under any circumstances, carrying out demolitions during wartime can be seen as a form of collective punishment and act of provocation and liable to exacerbate tensions already running high in Jerusalem.  

al-Walaja – An Ember of Hope 

One of the most extreme examples of this discrimination lies in al-Walaja, a Palestinian agricultural village located along the southern edge of East Jerusalem and bisected by the Jerusalem municipal border. While its northern portion is situated within the Jerusalem municipality, no zoning plan has ever existed for this area, which blocks all possibility of acquiring building permits. This means that the majority of its 150 homes are considered illegal by Israel and subject to demolition.  

Ir Amim has been working closely with the al-Walaja residents to not only halt demolitions, but secure planning rights for the community. The residents have been embroiled in a legal battle to advance a zoning plan that would prevent the pending demolition of 38 homes and provide for future residential development in the village.

Following Ir Amim’s advocacy alongside widespread action from partner organizations and supporters like yourselves, in lead up to last year’s decisive Supreme Court hearing on the 38 homes, 50 Members of the US Congress sent a letter to US Secretary of State Blinken concerning al-Walaja. The letter urged Blinken to engage with the Israeli government to freeze all demolitions and advance a proper zoning plan for the village. As a result, the state not only shifted its stance towards support for proper urban planning in the village, but also agreed to extend the demolition freeze. This freeze has been continually renewed over the past 1.5 years, while the residents, alongside Ir Amim and partner organizations, have worked tirelessly to advance a zoning plan for the area.  

Amid the recent darkness and devastation as a result of the ongoing hostilities, the case of al-Walaja provides a glimmer of hope. Just three weeks ago, another Supreme Court hearing was held on the principal appeal involving the 38 homes. The hearing resulted in both the recognition of significant planning progress and the provision of another four-month extension to the demolition freeze. Over the next few months, Ir Amim will continue to work hand-in-hand with village residents and partner organizations to advance this critical zoning plan. 

Juxtaposed with this success are six homes not included in the demolition freeze which are at imminent risk of demolition. Such a freeze should be extended to all homes in the Jerusalem section of al-Walaja while the planning progress is underway. The approval of the zoning plan would legalize these homes and provide for future residential development in the village, thus forestalling a potential major humanitarian crisis.  

al-Walaja serves as a powerful case study for the ways in which the fight against demolitions and planning discrimination can be transformed into the battle for advancing and securing housing justice and planning rights. 

As one of the leading organizations working to safeguard and promote Palestinian rights to housing and shelter in East Jerusalem, Ir Amim understands that attaining and securing planning and housing justice is the only sustainable alternative to the ongoing struggle to halt demolitions.

Ir Amim cannot do this pivotal work without your help—please consider supporting our end-of-year push!  

In solidarity and gratitude, 

Ir Amim staff