Your name

Defense Minister Yitzhak Mordechai
Ministry of Defense
Ha’Kirya
Tel Aviv 64734, Israel
Fax - 972-3-6962757

Dear Defense Minister Mordechai,

I would like to express my deep concern and consternation at reports that during your period as defense minister, the Israeli Civil Administration has demolished more than 400 houses and dozens of Bedouin dwellings in the West Bank. Thousands of human beings, the majority of whom are women and children, have lost their homes and all their hopes, and remain without a decent place to live.

I know the claim is made that these houses were built without permits, and that the entire policy of house demolitions is simply a policy of law enforcement. If this is the case, perhaps you can explain to me why Israel refuses to implement the provisions of the Fourth Geneva Conventions of 1949 in the occupied territories? As a law-abiding state, this is the least one could expect. Furthermore, how can the demolition of Palestinian homes be reconciled with Israel’s commitment to abide by international humanitarian law and by ratified international human rights conventions, which affirm the right to adequate housing to be a basic human right?

You claim that house demolition is simply an act of law enforcement; however, since all of Area C (73% of the West Bank) - except of course the Israeli settlements - is still designated as agricultural land (according to outdated 1942 British Mandatory plans), it is virtually impossible for Palestinian inhabitants to receive building permits. What kind of rule of law is this which prohibits the most basic right of building a roof over one’s family’s head, and then legitimizes the destruction of such homes on the grounds that they were built illegally? You authorize settlement expansion on the grounds of natural population growth; can you please explain why Palestinian towns and villages are prevented from expanding their borders (into Area C) in order to accomodate a far larger natural population growth?

I am afraid that by such presumably “legal” behavior as the demolition of Palestinian homes, the confiscation of Palestinian land, and the destruction of Palestinian agriculture, Israel is removing itself from the community of nations which is committed to respecting basic human rights. Instead of observing international law, Israel implements its own “law of the powerful,” a law which is feared, but not respected, and which is based on a system of “legalisms” which is unworthy of the support of all those who truly care about justice, the rule of law, and procedures of proper administration.

In light of all this, and the terrible human suffering which your policy of house demolitions creates - how many Palestinian infants and children will be forced to live in tents this winter? how many will be ill, might even die for lack of proper shelter? - I urge you to remember past Jewish suffering at the hands of powerful states, to apply international law in those areas of the West Bank still under full Israeli occupation, and to immediately cease your inhumane, and yes - illegal - policy of house demolitions.

Yours truly, cc: Israeli Ambassador