Report: Israel Denies Palestinians Permits

It has been estimated that eighteen thousand Palestinian homes, have been demolished since 1967.

21 February, 2008

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel denied 94% of the building permit requests West Bank Palestinians submitted over the past seven years, the anti-settlement Peace Now group reported Thursday.

In all, 91 of 1,624 requested permits were approved, Peace Now said. By contrast, 18,472 apartments and homes were built between 2000 and September 2007 in Jewish West Bank settlements, the group said, citing Israel's Central Bureau of Statistics.

Military officials in the West Bank responsible for construction said the figures were distorted.

Peace Now also said the army demolished 33% of the 4,993 cases of illegal Palestinian construction against which it issued demolition orders. By contrast, 7% of the 2,900 cases of illegal settler construction that drew demolition orders were torn down, the group said.

The data demonstrate "clear and conspicuous discrimination against the Palestinian population," Peace Now said.

The report applied only to the 60% of the West Bank that Israel fully controls.

Peace Now's assertions on the denial of building requests were based on data that a left-wing lawmaker, Chaim Oron, received in response to a query to Defense Minister Ehud Barak. Information on demolitions were drawn from military data Peace Now obtained.

Capt. Zidki Maman, spokesman for the military unit that oversees civil affairs in the West Bank, accused Peace Now of skewing data to fit its political agenda.

The number of building permits was low because Palestinians rarely submit requests, and then, generally after they receive demolition orders, Maman said. "If Palestinians would submit request for building permits, there could be thousands more approvals," he said.

He would not speculate on why Palestinians did not submit more requests. Palestinians have long complained that Israeli officials reject their building requests.

Maman said the data on demolitions were distorted because the number of settler demolitions did not include construction the settlers themselves tore down after receiving demolition orders. The data on Palestinian demolitions did include self-demolition, inflating the numbers, Maman said.

On Wednesday, AP reported that settlers in the West Bank settlement of Eli were building 27 unauthorized mobile homes, with the government's knowledge. Additionally, settlers have erected more that 100 unauthorized settlement outposts since the early 1990s, and the government has taken little action against them.