2-3 homes were demolished in the village of Al Khader, outside of Bethlehem, yesterday [more info here and there is another article which mentions the demolition here].
One of the statements in the letter from the Presbyterian group that I intend to address states, as a fact, that “…since house demolitions have ended in Israel…” and this is simply not true. I wish I would have stayed an extra day in Bethlehem so I would have pictures to share with you from the demolition, but my friends Alyssa and Michelle were there, and they have written two very moving accounts of their experience protesting the demolition and witnessing how it affected the family (read Alyssa’s here and Michelle’s here). Again, Alyssa is going to be living in Bethlehem for 4.5 more months, so I suggest you check out her site and stay informed of what is happening in that area through her blog.
I’m sorry – but I don’t see how anyone can look at this and say it’s okay – there are no good reasons for this. At all. I admit that there may be some “grey areas” that I have tended to gloss over during my summer here, but when it comes to the destruction of homes and families, I don’t see any grey area – can we not just say this is a black or white issue: this is simply wrong.
[For more information on house demolitions, and to see that they actually still continue, all the time, visit the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions. I also encourage you to go and watch the video that they have here that shows Israelis and Palestinians working together to rebuild destroyed homes]
