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Canada’s statement on Surbaher demolition in Palestine
7-23-2019
Canada finally decided to condemn demolition of the 12 Palestinian buildings on Tuesday afternoon at 3.22pm when it is already 1.22 am Wednesday morning in Israel.
The @CanadaFP handle on twitter stated, “Canada is deeply concerned by demolitions of Palestinian property in #SurBaher. We call on Israeli authorities to halt such demolitions which are illegal under international law and undermine efforts for a two state solution.”
The statement comes at a time after 12 buildings had been demolished. Calling for the halt after the buildings have been demolished is fruitless and serves no purpose. Unlike the Statements of the EU countries, the Canadian statement also lacks any sympathy for the families whose homes have been raised to the ground.
Israeli soldiers On Monday July 22nd, moved into the neighborhood of Wadi Homs in East Jerusalem with bulldozers and began to raze several buildings in the area.
The buildings were located in areas meant to be under Palestinian Authority civilian control under the Oslo accords of the 1990s.
According to the United Nations, some 20 people already living in the buildings were being displaced, while 350 owners of properties that were under construction or not yet inhabited were also affected.
On Tuesday haaretz.com reported that a total of 70 Homes were demolished.
Five European Union members of the UN Security Council, which also include France, Belgium and Poland, released a statement following a council meeting on the Middle East.
"We as member states of the European Union strongly condemn the demolition by Israel of Palestinian buildings in the district of Wadi al Hummus, in the south east of Jerusalem," they said.
"In all but the most exceptional of circumstances, demolition in occupied territories is contrary to International Humanitarian Law and to UNSC resolutions," the statement added. Britain and Germany added their voices to growing international condemnation of Israel on Tuesday.
The EU countries said demolitions cause "unnecessary suffering to ordinary Palestinians and is harmful to the peace process."
Turkey's Foreign Ministry in a written statement slammed Israel on Tuesday for demolishing Palestinian houses and calling it as another example of Israel's "aggressive occupation" policies.
"We strongly condemn such [Israeli] acts towards changing the demographic structure of Jerusalem," said the statement, calling on Israel to stop illegal actions that damage hopes for a two-state solution.
"In this specific case, the demolitions were particularly egregious as a number of the buildings were located in Areas A and B, under the jurisdiction of the Palestinian Authority according to the Oslo Agreements, and thus constitute a violation of these agreements. They set a dangerous precedent that directly jeopardises the two state solution," the statement said.
On Monday and Tuesday other countries also condemned Israel’s razing of the buildings including France, Jordan, Qatar, Algeria, Saudi, the EU and the UN.
Saleh Higazi, deputy Middle East and North Africa director for Amnesty International, said in a statement on Monday, “These demolitions are a flagrant violation of international law and part of a systematic pattern by the Israeli authorities to forcibly displace Palestinians in the occupied territories; such actions amount to war crimes."
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