Mohammed 'confessed to 9/11, Pearl murder'
From correspondents in Washington
March 16, 2007 05:59am
Agence France-Presse
TOP al-Qaeda suspect Khalid Sheik Mohammed has confessed to plotting 31 terror attacks including September 11 and personally beheading US journalist Daniel Pearl, the Pentagon said overnight.
In a closed-door hearing before a panel of US military officers, the Pakistani national admitted to masterminding terror attacks and plots around the world, according to a partial transcript released by the Pentagon.
"I was responsible for the 9/11 operation, from A to Z," Mohammed said in a statement, read by a US military officer at the hearing held at the US camp for "war on terror" suspects at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
Overnight, the Pentagon confirmed that Mohammed also said he had murdered Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl, whose videotaped beheading shocked the world in 2002.
"I decapitated with my blessed right hand the head of the American Jew, Daniel Pearl, in the city of Karachi, Pakistan," Mohammed said in the statement read out at the hearing.
"For those who would like to confirm, there are pictures of me on the Internet holding his head," he said.
Mohammed's admission to taking Pearl's life was deleted from the transcript until the journalist's family had been notified, Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said.
A suspected senior deputy to Osama bin Laden, Mohammed claimed responsibility for an array of other terrorist attacks, including the 1993 World Trade Centre bombing and the 2002 bombing of a nightclub in Bali, Indonesia, according to the transcript.
He also claimed to have devised attacks in Britain, Singapore and the Panama Canal, and had planned to kill the Pope and former US presidents.
The White House declined to comment on Mohammed's statements, saying it did not want to influence any legal proceedings.
After Mohammed's capture in 2003 he was held in secret CIA prisons until he was transferred to military custody.
Mohammed gave the military tribunal at Sunday's hearing a written statement on alleged abuse during his detention.
The lead officer at the hearing asked Mohammed if any statements he made to interrogators were "as the result of any treatment that you received" from his capture in 2003 up until his arrival in Guantanamo in September 2006.
"CIA peoples. Yes. At the beginning when they transferred me ..." The rest of the transcript was redacted.
Asked whether President George W. Bush considered Mohammed's confession to be credible, spokesman Tony Snow said: "We cannot respond because of concerns about command influence with an ongoing military commission"
Mohammed gave the tribunal a long, rambling justification for his actions as part of a holy war against the United States.
"If America they want to invade Iraq they will not send for Saddam roses or kisses. They send for a bombardment ... For sure I am American enemies," he said.
"But when you said I'm terrorist, I think it is deceiving peoples. Terrorists, enemy combatant. All these definitions as CIA you can make whatever you want."
Mohammed is considered the most important of the 14 prime suspects who will appear before the latest military panels at Guantanamo on their "enemy combatant" status after being transferred from CIA custody overseas.
"Enemy combatant" status would pave the way for a trial by military tribunal.
The treatment and prosecution of "war on terror" suspects has sparked criticism at home and abroad. None of the 14 has had access to a lawyer and are instead represented at the hearings by a military officer.
The Pentagon released redacted transcripts of Mohammed's hearing along with those of two other captured al-Qaeda operatives - Abu Faraj al-Libi and Ramzi bin Al-Shibh.
Mohammed told the hearing he was "not happy" about the 3000 victims of the 2001 attacks by al-Qaeda hijackers who brought down the World Trade Centre towers and slammed into the Pentagon.
"I feel sorry even. I don't like to kill children and the kids ... I don't like to kill people."
Mohammed set out a vast list of attacks and plots against US, British and Israeli targets, including a "second wave" of attacks on US landmarks including the Empire State Building, the Heathrow Airport and the New York Stock Exchange.
Former US presidents Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter and Pope John Paul II were also assassination targets.
Friday, March 16, 2007
Officials: Mohammed exaggerated claims
Translation. "We got caught lying our asses off, so in Bush administration manner, we're going to blame the victim. And don't forget to ignore the emails nailing fat Karl for blowing off those prosecutors so we could transfer our corrupt image over to the Democrats by pursuing false charges. And make like you don't remember our continuing Iran attack buildup, otherwise Israel wouldn't need all your taxpayer dollars to exist, because really the Cold War is over, and we don't really need their nukes anymore. And..."
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Related
Selected E-Mail Correspondence (findlaw.com)
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By KATHERINE SHRADER, Associated Press Writer Thu Mar 15, 7:39 PM ET
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Related
Selected E-Mail Correspondence (findlaw.com)
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By KATHERINE SHRADER, Associated Press Writer Thu Mar 15, 7:39 PM ET
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed's claims that he was responsible for dozens of successful, foiled and imagined attacks in the past 15 years relies on a loose definition of the word "responsible." Officials say the 9/11 mastermind was key to some plots but a bit player in others.
The 31 on his list range from the stunningly vicious suicide hijackings of Sept. 11, 2001, to others that current and former government officials say were more talk than concrete plans, such as a plot to kill Jimmy Carter and other former U.S. presidents.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity, noting Mohammed's activities are likely to be the subject of an upcoming military tribunal.
His confession, his first public statement since his March 2003 capture in Pakistan, came in a closed-door hearing in the newly established U.S. tribunal process. A 26-page transcript of the Saturday session at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, was made public Wednesday night.
While there apparently is truth in much of the statement, several officials said, there's also an element of self-promotion. They view the claims as at least in part a rallying cry to bolster his image and that of al-Qaida in the only venue Mohammed has left: a military courtroom from which the public is barred.
"I have never known a criminal — either terrorist or otherwise — that didn't exaggerate," said Michigan Rep. Mike Rogers, a former FBI agent and the top Republican on the terrorism panel of the House Intelligence Committee.
Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said authorities would decide the credibility of Mohammed's claims if he is tried. "These are his words," Whitman said.
The United States linked Mohammed closely to the attacks of 9/11, and his statement said he was responsible "from A to Z." Officials don't doubt his claim that he beheaded Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl with what he called his "blessed right hand." And he corroborates al-Qaida's known interest in attacking embassies, London's Heathrow Airport, the New York Stock Exchange and other targets.
But his role in some plots may be more minor than his hands-on involvement in coordinating the attacks of 9/11 — evidence of which was found on his computer when he was captured. Some of the plots were formulated in al-Qaida's early years, when alliances among jihadists were even more fluid than they are today.
"If you look at him having a senior position in al-Qaida, when he says he's responsible, it can be interpreted in a lot of different ways," said Ben Venzke, head of the Virginia-based IntelCenter, a government contractor that monitors al-Qaida messaging.
Some examples:
• Mohammed claims that he was "responsible for the 1993 World Trade Center Operation," which killed six and injured more than 1,000 when a bomb was detonated in an underground garage. Six jihadists with ties to international terror networks are serving life sentences. One official said Mohammed didn't hatch the plot, but he and elements of al-Qaida may have supported it.
• He also claims to be responsible for the bombing of a nightclub in Bali, Indonesia, which was frequented by British and Australian tourists. Current and former officials say that his role was probably that of a financier for an al-Qaida affiliate group — Jemaah Islamiyah — operating in Southeast Asia.
Mohammed's link "could have been as small as arranging a safe house for travel. It could have been arranging finance," Rogers said. "But for his own self-worth, he may have tended to say, 'I was responsible for Bali.'"
• He claims to have been responsible for providing financial support to "hit American, Jewish and British targets in Turkey." That's probably a reference to the 2003 bombing of two synagogues, a British-based bank and the British consulate in Istanbul, killing 58 people including the British consul-general.
Prosecutors said Osama bin Laden personally ordered the plot, and Mohammed was not named as a key provider of financial support during a three-year trial. Instead, Turkish authorities say a Syrian — Loa'i Mohammad Haj Bakr al-Saqa — masterminded the attacks and ran $170,000 between al-Qaida and the Turkey-based militants.
• And Mohammed claimed he shared responsibility — he stressed shared — for an attempt to assassinate Pope John Paul II during a 2005 stop in the Philippines. Authorities later blamed the plot on Ramzi Yousef, who was convicted of masterminding the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and accused of plotting to blow up U.S. airliners. Yousef was never charged in plotting to kill the pope.
Mohammed's claims help answer some questions. Some intelligence officials have long believed that would-be shoe bomber Richard Reid was part of a larger plan to take down airliners after 9/11, in part, because of e-mails he wrote that were discovered on a computer in a Paris Internet cafe.
Another British citizen has been convicted in the plot. In his statement Saturday, Mohammed said he was responsible for the shoe bomber operation "to down two American airplanes."
Current and former government officials say the CIA spent hundreds — if not thousands — of hours interrogating Mohammed and would have heard him describe in great detail precisely what he claims to have done in each plot. The transcript provided a snippet of his claims, officials said.
A CIA official declined to analyze Mohammed's statements.
One official cautioned that many of Mohammed's claims during interrogation were "white noise" — designed to send the U.S. on wild goose chases or to get him through the day's interrogation session.
In the Defense Department transcript, Mohammed said his statement was not made under duress. But Mohammed and human rights advocates have alleged that he was tortured, and legal experts say that could taint all his statements.
"In light of the rambling nature of his statements, and the views of some that he is prone to exaggerate his importance, we cannot feel confident we know exactly the level of his involvement in various prior attacks," said Joshua Dressler, a criminal law expert at Moritz College of Law at Ohio State University.
The CIA has denied it uses torture. "The agency's terrorist interrogation program has been conducted lawfully, with great care and close review, producing vital information that has helped disrupt plots and save lives," spokesman Paul Gimigliano said.
___
Associated Press writers Victor L. Simpson in Rome and Pauline Jelinek in Washington contributed to this story.
Officials: Mohammed exaggerated claims
Translation. "We got caught lying our asses off, so in Bush administration manner, we're going to blame the victim. And don't forget to ignore the emails nailing fat Karl for blowing off those prosecutors so we could transfer our corrupt image over to the Democrats by pursuing false charges. And make like you don't remember our continuing Iran attack buildup, otherwise Israel wouldn't need all your taxpayer dollars to exist, because really the Cold War is over, and we don't really need their nukes anymore. And..."
---
Related
Selected E-Mail Correspondence (findlaw.com)
---
By KATHERINE SHRADER, Associated Press Writer Thu Mar 15, 7:39 PM ET
---
Related
Selected E-Mail Correspondence (findlaw.com)
---
By KATHERINE SHRADER, Associated Press Writer Thu Mar 15, 7:39 PM ET
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed's claims that he was responsible for dozens of successful, foiled and imagined attacks in the past 15 years relies on a loose definition of the word "responsible." Officials say the 9/11 mastermind was key to some plots but a bit player in others.
The 31 on his list range from the stunningly vicious suicide hijackings of Sept. 11, 2001, to others that current and former government officials say were more talk than concrete plans, such as a plot to kill Jimmy Carter and other former U.S. presidents.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity, noting Mohammed's activities are likely to be the subject of an upcoming military tribunal.
His confession, his first public statement since his March 2003 capture in Pakistan, came in a closed-door hearing in the newly established U.S. tribunal process. A 26-page transcript of the Saturday session at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, was made public Wednesday night.
While there apparently is truth in much of the statement, several officials said, there's also an element of self-promotion. They view the claims as at least in part a rallying cry to bolster his image and that of al-Qaida in the only venue Mohammed has left: a military courtroom from which the public is barred.
"I have never known a criminal — either terrorist or otherwise — that didn't exaggerate," said Michigan Rep. Mike Rogers, a former FBI agent and the top Republican on the terrorism panel of the House Intelligence Committee.
Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said authorities would decide the credibility of Mohammed's claims if he is tried. "These are his words," Whitman said.
The United States linked Mohammed closely to the attacks of 9/11, and his statement said he was responsible "from A to Z." Officials don't doubt his claim that he beheaded Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl with what he called his "blessed right hand." And he corroborates al-Qaida's known interest in attacking embassies, London's Heathrow Airport, the New York Stock Exchange and other targets.
But his role in some plots may be more minor than his hands-on involvement in coordinating the attacks of 9/11 — evidence of which was found on his computer when he was captured. Some of the plots were formulated in al-Qaida's early years, when alliances among jihadists were even more fluid than they are today.
"If you look at him having a senior position in al-Qaida, when he says he's responsible, it can be interpreted in a lot of different ways," said Ben Venzke, head of the Virginia-based IntelCenter, a government contractor that monitors al-Qaida messaging.
Some examples:
• Mohammed claims that he was "responsible for the 1993 World Trade Center Operation," which killed six and injured more than 1,000 when a bomb was detonated in an underground garage. Six jihadists with ties to international terror networks are serving life sentences. One official said Mohammed didn't hatch the plot, but he and elements of al-Qaida may have supported it.
• He also claims to be responsible for the bombing of a nightclub in Bali, Indonesia, which was frequented by British and Australian tourists. Current and former officials say that his role was probably that of a financier for an al-Qaida affiliate group — Jemaah Islamiyah — operating in Southeast Asia.
Mohammed's link "could have been as small as arranging a safe house for travel. It could have been arranging finance," Rogers said. "But for his own self-worth, he may have tended to say, 'I was responsible for Bali.'"
• He claims to have been responsible for providing financial support to "hit American, Jewish and British targets in Turkey." That's probably a reference to the 2003 bombing of two synagogues, a British-based bank and the British consulate in Istanbul, killing 58 people including the British consul-general.
Prosecutors said Osama bin Laden personally ordered the plot, and Mohammed was not named as a key provider of financial support during a three-year trial. Instead, Turkish authorities say a Syrian — Loa'i Mohammad Haj Bakr al-Saqa — masterminded the attacks and ran $170,000 between al-Qaida and the Turkey-based militants.
• And Mohammed claimed he shared responsibility — he stressed shared — for an attempt to assassinate Pope John Paul II during a 2005 stop in the Philippines. Authorities later blamed the plot on Ramzi Yousef, who was convicted of masterminding the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and accused of plotting to blow up U.S. airliners. Yousef was never charged in plotting to kill the pope.
Mohammed's claims help answer some questions. Some intelligence officials have long believed that would-be shoe bomber Richard Reid was part of a larger plan to take down airliners after 9/11, in part, because of e-mails he wrote that were discovered on a computer in a Paris Internet cafe.
Another British citizen has been convicted in the plot. In his statement Saturday, Mohammed said he was responsible for the shoe bomber operation "to down two American airplanes."
Current and former government officials say the CIA spent hundreds — if not thousands — of hours interrogating Mohammed and would have heard him describe in great detail precisely what he claims to have done in each plot. The transcript provided a snippet of his claims, officials said.
A CIA official declined to analyze Mohammed's statements.
One official cautioned that many of Mohammed's claims during interrogation were "white noise" — designed to send the U.S. on wild goose chases or to get him through the day's interrogation session.
In the Defense Department transcript, Mohammed said his statement was not made under duress. But Mohammed and human rights advocates have alleged that he was tortured, and legal experts say that could taint all his statements.
"In light of the rambling nature of his statements, and the views of some that he is prone to exaggerate his importance, we cannot feel confident we know exactly the level of his involvement in various prior attacks," said Joshua Dressler, a criminal law expert at Moritz College of Law at Ohio State University.
The CIA has denied it uses torture. "The agency's terrorist interrogation program has been conducted lawfully, with great care and close review, producing vital information that has helped disrupt plots and save lives," spokesman Paul Gimigliano said.
___
Associated Press writers Victor L. Simpson in Rome and Pauline Jelinek in Washington contributed to this story.
Huge Problem with 9/11 'al-Qaeda' Confession
Looks like the Rendon Group screwed up the Pentagon's propaganda.
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March 15, 2007
Important: Huge Problem with KSM Confession
In his confession, KSM claims:
"I was responsible for planning, training, surveying, and financing for the New (or Second) Wave of attacks against the following skyscrapers after 9/11: ...Plaza Bank, Washington state"
The Plaza Bank was not founded until 2006 according to their official Web site:
" Founded in early 2006, with a vision of creating the leading commercial bank in the Pacific Northwest, Plaza Bank’s story quickly captured the hearts and passion of some of the region’s leading business minds. From Jack Creighton, former CEO of Weyerhaeuser and United Airlines, to former Seattle Mariner Edgar Martinez, and nationally acclaimed salon operator Gene Juárez, the story of a bank founded to bring “class to the mass” simply could not be contained."
I think we can say for quite certain that whomever is being held as KSM was either caught recently or that his entire confession is a fraud.
Update: Noah has more
Israel risks isolation as Hamas-Fatah coalition takes office
· US fails to join boycott over peace conditions
· Europe and UK sound out moderates in new cabinet
Ian Black, Middle East editor, Rory McCarthy in Jerusalem and Ewen MacAskill in Washington
Friday March 16, 2007
The Guardian
· Europe and UK sound out moderates in new cabinet
Ian Black, Middle East editor, Rory McCarthy in Jerusalem and Ewen MacAskill in Washington
Friday March 16, 2007
The Guardian
Israel seems to be heading for confrontation with Britain and the EU after announcing a total boycott of the new Palestinian national unity government, due to be sworn in tomorrow after months of factional violence and political uncertainty.
"Israel will not deal with this new government and we hope the international community will stand firmly by its own principles and refuse to deal with a government that says no to peace and no to reconciliation," said Mark Regev, the foreign ministry spokesman.
Israel objects to the new government's failure to meet the three conditions laid down by the international community: recognise Israel, renounce violence and accept previous peace agreements. But Britain and the EU appear willing to deal with the unity government on a selective basis, and there are signs that even the US - anxious to appease its conservative Arab allies - may part company with the Israeli prime minister, Ehud Olmert, over the issue. Washington conspicuously failed to announce a boycott of its own, saying it was reserving judgment.
The Hamas leader, Ismail Haniyeh, remains prime minister and his Islamist movement continues to have a major influence. Other key positions have been given to moderate independents in the hope of lifting the international financial boycott and alleviating the deepening economic crisis, especially in Gaza.
Diplomats said yesterday that the US had been close to agreeing to a total boycott but "pulled back from the brink" and agreed to work with the reforming finance minister, Salam Fayyad, a US-educated economist who has worked for the World Bank and International Monetary Fund. Condoleezza Rice, the secretary of state, would like to open discussions with the non-Hamas members, in particular Mr Fayyad, it is understood. "It will be hard for the Americans to support a complete boycott," said one ambassador.
Asked if the White House would deal with Mr Fayyad, including as a channel for US aid funds, the state department spokesman Sean McCormack said: "Any questions about who we will or will not deal with, we are just going to wait."
But a senior British official was pessimistic, saying: "My impression at the moment is that the Americans are unwilling to work with the new government."
Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president and Fatah leader, has been in close contact with the US as well as Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan in recent days. Britain has told Israel it will deal with non-Hamas ministers - the official formulation is "different people in the government" - and other EU governments are likely to follow. France hailed the coalition as a "new page" in relations with the international community but linked future cooperation to Palestinian efforts to halt violence against Israel and secure the release of a captured Israel soldier, Gilad Shalit.
Final positions have yet to be agreed in internal discussions in several key capitals. "There's a huge row going on," said one European diplomat. "The Foreign Office is arguing with Downing Street, the state department with the national security council, and the German chancellery with the German foreign ministry."
Officials in Brussels said the EU might send funds through Mr Fayyad as a first step towards restoring direct assistance. Another possibility is broadening an existing mechanism for delivering purely humanitarian relief to include direct payments to the Palestinian government.
"We will not be taking any decisions before we have been able to judge the programme and actions of the new administration," said Emma Udwin, a spokeswoman for the European commission.
Under the spotlight will be the new government's political programme, which remains vague. Policies include continuing a four-month truce with Israel in Gaza and talk of "respecting" previous peace deals. However there is no explicit recognition of Israel and the platform appears to reaffirm a broad "right of resistance". The policies are broadly based on a Hamas-Fatah agreement reached last year.
Factional fighting, which continued sporadically in Gaza yesterday, has killed more than 130 Palestinians. Restoring security will be the job of the new interior minister, Hani Kawasmeh, a low-key, independent bureaucrat who has inherited the most difficult position in the government.
The hope is that even partial western engagement with the new government will create some sense of momentum before the Arab summit in Riyadh, the Saudi capital, at the end of the month.
Marching With a Mouse: THOMAS FRIEDMAN - A Message
OP-ED COLUMNIST
Marching With a Mouse
By THOMAS L. FRIEDMANPublished: March 16, 2007
If you do your homework, have your facts right and the merits on your side, and then build a constituency for your ideals through the Internet, you, too, can be at the table of the biggest deal in history.
There aren’t a lot of environmental groups with their own investment bank consultants, so when you hear that Environmental Defense has just hired the boutique Wall Street firm Perella Weinberg Partners, you know that we’re in a new world. Every college activist should study this story, because it is the future. In the old days, when activists wanted something done, they held a sit-in or organized a protest march. Now they hire an investment bank.
O.K., maybe every activist group can’t afford Goldman Sachs, but such groups should nevertheless analyze how Environmental Defense and the Natural Resources Defense Council used the Internet and the market to save the planet from tons of CO2. The story started last year when a giant Texas power company, TXU, announced plans to build 11 coal-fired, CO2-belching power plants, raising the ire of environmentalists worried about climate change. Fred Krupp, president of Environmental Defense, which has an office in Texas, wrote to John Wilder, TXU’s chairman, and asked for a meeting, but was brushed off. TXU made it clear that it was on a fast track to build its plants and had the governor of Texas on its side.
Talk about not knowing what world you’re living in.
So Environmental Defense and its allies turned to the Web and created the Stoptxu.com Web site, which put out regular electronic newsletters on the TXU plans and built a national constituency opposed to the deal. They also took TXU to court.
--MORE--
Thursday, March 15, 2007
Jerusalem home demolitions: by 2020, 240,000 Palestinians will be 40,000
Editor's note: I am moving to post at the other blog(also see new articles below).
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(Jerusalem) Maisa Abu Ghazaleh
Wednesday, 14 March 2007
The wintry weather did not prevent the Israeli-controlled Jerusalem Municipality bulldozers from traveling to the Hummos Valley in the village of Sur Baher. They demolished two of the homes in southeastern Jerusalem under the pretext of not being licensed.
Since this morning the bulldozers have been active, demolishing the house belonging to Ali Abu Sarhan where he and his 10 member family have lived since 2002. The home is approximately 100 square meters with a construction cost of approximately 130,000 shekels, in addition to the 50,000 shekels given to the Israelis for the Municipal Court to issue a license.
Abu Sarhan said he was surprised to find a large presence of police and border guards, along with the municipal crews who began removing furniture from the house while the bulldozers got started on the other side.
A residential building not yet inhabited belonging to the Tun family was also destroyed. The house was constructed, but Tun was awaiting a building permit to move in since 2003 from the Jerusalem municipality which refused to grant it.
He said, “When I saw the police and bulldozers I went to the Jerusalem municipality to again postpone, but they would not. I spent half a million shekels building this home.” He noted that he and his children all must rent.
In the meantime, Israeli forces imposed a closed military zone on the Hummos Valley while distributing demolition orders to approximately 50 families under the pretext of licensing. The demolitions are slated for June, although the Israelis generally accept large sums of money to postpone.
Director of the Jerusalem Center for Economic and Social Rights, Ziad Al Hamori, said that demolition in Jerusalem for this year has been extensive and brutal, pointing out that during the first three months of 2007, Jerusalem Municipality bulldozers demolished 20 houses.
Al Hamori told PNN, “The continuation of the campaign to demolish homes aims to drive the people from the city, in addition to solving the Israeli concern over demographics.” He pointed out the ease with which Jewish builders are granted permits in settlements or in other parts of Jerusalem. “Israel is distorting and changing the features and history of the Old City and its surroundings.” According to the Israeli plan for 2020, 240,000 Palestinians in Jerusalem must be reduced to 40 or 50 thousand, concluded Al Hamori.
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(Jerusalem) Maisa Abu Ghazaleh
Wednesday, 14 March 2007
The wintry weather did not prevent the Israeli-controlled Jerusalem Municipality bulldozers from traveling to the Hummos Valley in the village of Sur Baher. They demolished two of the homes in southeastern Jerusalem under the pretext of not being licensed.
Since this morning the bulldozers have been active, demolishing the house belonging to Ali Abu Sarhan where he and his 10 member family have lived since 2002. The home is approximately 100 square meters with a construction cost of approximately 130,000 shekels, in addition to the 50,000 shekels given to the Israelis for the Municipal Court to issue a license.
Abu Sarhan said he was surprised to find a large presence of police and border guards, along with the municipal crews who began removing furniture from the house while the bulldozers got started on the other side.
A residential building not yet inhabited belonging to the Tun family was also destroyed. The house was constructed, but Tun was awaiting a building permit to move in since 2003 from the Jerusalem municipality which refused to grant it.
He said, “When I saw the police and bulldozers I went to the Jerusalem municipality to again postpone, but they would not. I spent half a million shekels building this home.” He noted that he and his children all must rent.
In the meantime, Israeli forces imposed a closed military zone on the Hummos Valley while distributing demolition orders to approximately 50 families under the pretext of licensing. The demolitions are slated for June, although the Israelis generally accept large sums of money to postpone.
Director of the Jerusalem Center for Economic and Social Rights, Ziad Al Hamori, said that demolition in Jerusalem for this year has been extensive and brutal, pointing out that during the first three months of 2007, Jerusalem Municipality bulldozers demolished 20 houses.
Al Hamori told PNN, “The continuation of the campaign to demolish homes aims to drive the people from the city, in addition to solving the Israeli concern over demographics.” He pointed out the ease with which Jewish builders are granted permits in settlements or in other parts of Jerusalem. “Israel is distorting and changing the features and history of the Old City and its surroundings.” According to the Israeli plan for 2020, 240,000 Palestinians in Jerusalem must be reduced to 40 or 50 thousand, concluded Al Hamori.
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