About a year ago in Palestine, Musab Abdul Haq, a 15-year-old, diligently saved his daily allowance with the intention of purchasing a new electric bike to aid his mobility for the upcoming school year. However, when a call for donations arose to aid in reconstructing the homes of Palestinians involved in anti-Israel actions, Musab chose to deposit all his savings into this fund.
Remarkably, the Palestinian community quickly rallied together, managing to amass half a million shekels (approximately $140,000) within a matter of days. This substantial sum was utilized to acquire two new homes.
The initiative, initiated from Nablus, the largest city in the West Bank, sought to generate significant financial contributions in support of the families of Kamal Juri and Osama al-Taweel, both imprisoned on charges of involvement in the killing of an Israeli soldier near the “Shevi Shimron” settlement in the western part of the city.
The campaign’s organizer believes that the act of reconstructing demolished homes through Palestinian donations symbolizes the solidarity of the Palestinian people against Israeli actions. He emphasized that this effort stands as a minimal gesture to stand by the families of those who have made national sacrifices, demonstrating to the world that they are not alone in their opposition to Israel; the entire Palestinian nation stands with them.
Since the start of the year, the “Sherin” electronic observatory reports that Israel has carried out punitive demolitions on 15 houses due to Palestinian actions, inflicting significant hardship on Palestinians. At least 627 individuals were compelled to relocate, with half of them being women and children.
The Abdullah Al-Huriani Center for Studies and Documentation (Azad) revealed that since 1967, Israeli authorities have partially demolished more than 100,000 homes and 50,000 other structures in the occupied Palestinian territories.
Human Rights Watch, an international organization dedicated to human rights, contends that the Israeli government’s demolition of homes belonging to Palestinians accused of offenses constitutes a war crime and collective punishment, inflicting harm on innocent individuals.
Observers argue that Israel’s demolition of Palestinian homes contravenes Article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949, which stipulates that no protected individual may be penalized for a crime they have not personally committed.
