22.11.2014|Other|Principal Correspondence
Re: Objection to the intent to seize and destroy the 'Akari family home in Jerusalem
HaMoked's objection against the military's intention to demolish the family residence of the assailant in the ramming attack at the Jerusalem light-rail station. HaMoked maintains that punitive house demolition constitutes a breach of the prohibition on collective punishment in international humanitarian law; that this practice violates the family members' basic rights to dignified living, housing and property; that it does not meet the test of proportionality; that the security establishment itself has concluded that this practice is harmful rather than deterring; and that the fact that the military uses this regulation only when the suspected assailant is a Palestinian and the victim a Jew, points to severe discrimination.
