Arab homes razed in Jerusalem

An Israeli wrecking crew knocked down Shadi Hamdan's home in an Arab neighborhood of Jerusalem in just a couple of hours, reducing the upholsterer's savings to a pile of gray rubble.

The demolition of the home, which Israel claims was illegally built, vividly illustrate the toughest issue facing negotiators in Israeli-Palestinian peace talks: conflicting claims over Jerusalem.

Agreeing on how to divide the ancient city, home to 476,000 Jews and 250,000 Arabs, is on the table but has yet to be resolved in talks launched at a U.S.-hosted Mideast peace conference last November. The Palestinians want to establish a capital in east Jerusalem, captured by Israel in the 1967 Mideast War. Israel claims the whole city but has signaled willingness to cede some Arab neighborhoods.

Since 2004, Israel has leveled more than 300 homes in Jerusalem's Arab neighborhoods, citing a lack of building permits. However, critics say the permits are virtually impossible to obtain and consider the demolitions part of a decades-old policy to limit Palestinian population growth in the disputed city.

Rabbi Arik Ascherman of Rabbis for Human Rights, a group that fights home demolitions, says Israel is violating the human rights of the city's Arab residents by tearing down their homes.

"Were Israelis and Palestinians to have an equal chance to get a building permit ... it wouldn't be a human rights issue," said Ascherman. "It's a human rights issue because it's intentional and purposeful housing discrimination." More