Demolition Man: Ehud Barak
Demolition Man: Ehud BarakIsrael news photo: Flash 90

Israeli security forces tore down a home Wednesday in the Tekoa Daled Ranch in the Etzion Bloc. The home was owned and built by the Carlebach family, that had lived in it for a year.

 

The forces arrived at dawn, surrounded the location, instructed the family to leave the premises and began demolition as soon as the family was out.

The local residents angrily told Arutz Sheva that while security forces were very quick to tear down the Carlebachs' home, they do nothing with regard to thousands of Arab illegal homes in the area. They noted that the Carlebachs have a two-month-old baby, and that Israeli policy with regard to demolition of Arab homes is that homes that are populated by families are allowed to remain standing.
 
"A demolished Jewish home provides quiet for the Defense Minister in his party, which is also sick of him," the Women in Green movement said. "The absurd situation in which the Defense Minister has all of the authority over building and demolition in Judea and Samaria cannot be allowed to continue. That was not what the voters meant when they voted for the Right."
 
MK Aryeh Eldad (NU) donated 1,000 shekels toward the rebuilding of the destroyed home. "We are sick and tired of the Defense Minister's turning the Judea and Samaria Civil Administration into his political arm," he said. "He buys his survival in his crumbling party by destroying settlers' homes." 
 
Moti Klein, a resident of Tekoa Daled, said that the demolition of the Carlebach home caught residents by surprise. "They received no prior notice. They simply came to a home with a mother who gave birth two weeks ago, together with a bunch of Arabs and a bulldozer, and tore down their house."
 
Klein said this was the first time security forces demolished a structure in the community, which is home to 17 families. "It certainly surprised us - they came secretly at dawn when we were all still in bed," he related.
 
Klein promised that the community would help the Carlebachs rebuild as soon as possible, and that the family would be housed in a one of the temporary caravans meanwhile.
 
Photos courtesy Shilo Kinarti.