Israel destroys protest tent in East Jerusalem
JERUSALEM — Israeli police on Wednesday destroyed a protest tent set up last summer outside two homes where Palestinian families were evicted to make way for Jewish settlers, witnesses said.
Police arrived at the site mid-morning and destroyed the tent, which in recent weeks has served as a focal point for demonstrations against Israel's policy in mostly Arab East Jerusalem, they said.
Palestinian and foreign activists rebuilt the structure but police returned and destroyed it again.
The Jerusalem municipality said it was alerted to the structure by an "anonymous tip" and that it had given the owner a three-day warning that it would be destroyed if he did not produce a permit.
In August, police evacuated two extended families -- 53 people, including 19 minors -- from their homes after the Israeli supreme court upheld a settler organisation's claim to the properties.
The evictions sparked a storm of international criticism, including from Israel's closest ally the United States, which said such actions harmed efforts to restart peace talks with the Palestinians.
Israel has also defied international calls to stop demolishing Palestinian homes built in East Jerusalem without official permits, and on Tuesday razed five houses in the disputed city.
The European Union's top diplomat Javier Solana expressed concern over the demolitions and called on Israel to "end these discriminatory measures."
Arab residents have long said it is virtually impossible to get permits from the Israeli-run municipality for new homes and home extensions in east Jerusalem, and as a result have built thousands of illegal structures there.
Israel seized mostly Arab East Jerusalem during the 1967 Six-Day War and considers all of Jerusalem its "unified and eternal" capital.
The international community has never recognised Israel's claim to the entire city. Palestinians want to make east Jerusalem -- home to some 200,000 Jewish Israelis and 268,000 Palestinians -- the capital of their future state.
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2006 file photo taken in East Jerusalem
Despite international calls for an end to home demolitions in East Jerusalem, Israeli authorities tore down five Palestinian homes yesterday; claiming they were built illegally.  These home demolitions come after repeated calls from the UN and international community to stop settler activity and home demolitions.

The five demolitions took place early morning. Israeli authorities said the homes lacked a permit and therefore were built illegally.  Palestinians claim it is nearly impossible to obtain a permit for their homes from the Israeli authorities who rule the area.  Palestinians tried to repel the Israeli authorities with rocks but were summarily dispersed and the demolitions went ahead as planned. 

The UN reports that 1,500 demolition orders are currently pending in Israeli courts.  At least 600 Palestinians have been displaced from their homes in East Jerusalem since the beginning of this year. 

Since annexing the city in 1967 Israeli authorities have authorized the demolition of thousands of Palestinian homes in an effort to create a majority Jewish population in Jerusalem.  "It has been Israeli policy to try to guarantee a Jewish majority and generate Jewish hegemony in Jerusalem since 1967," said Dr. Roby Nathanson, Director of Israel's Macro Center for Political Economics. "Israel has annexed huge parts of Jerusalem, enlarged the boundaries of the municipality, taken lots of land in the eastern part of the city and built more than 50,000 housing units on this land exclusively for Jews."    

However, Palestinians still hope to make Jerusalem the capital of their future state.