Ramallah—During the late afternoon of 25 May 1998, 20 to 30 men, including members of the Palestinian Preventive Security force in Ramallah, proceeded to demolish parts of the home of Nigel Parry, a British national employed at Birzeit University's Public Relations office since 1994 and the Birzeit Webmaster.
Other occupants of the house include Adli Daana, another Public Relations employee, Kifah Al Fani, a student of Birzeit University, and 'Ala Jaradat, a former student and Arabic Webmaster in training at Birzeit University.
Nigel received a phone call at his office at 5 pm from a friend who had passed by the house and noticed a crowd of people around the gate. Nigel and 'Ala came down immediately to find their belongings in the garden, all windows and doors smashed open, and the roof and wall of Nigel's bedroom demolished.
The door and wall of a second room was also demolished as well as all the windows in the house. Kifah, who arrived shortly afterwards, was beaten, kicked, and pushed to the ground by 5-10 people after challenging one of those involved in the destruction of the house. Kifah was taken to hospital after the attack and received 4 stitches to his forehead.
"Every single window in the house was smashed," said Nigel, "Computers, camera equipment, were lying outside. Everything I own had been thrown into the garden. I've lived in this house for three years. I intend to stay in Palestine and was invited by Birzeit University to come and work for them."
"The reason this happened was that there was a dispute between us and the landlady, Madihah Nuseibeh. According to the Palestinian Authority, there are four hundred such unsolved cases in Ramallah at the moment. The reason that I unintentionally made history tonight was that I am a foreigner."
"The usual way a housing dispute is solved here is through the payment of something called "khloo rijil" (lit. "clearing of the foot"). This is otherwise known in the West as "key money" - a landlord wants to sell, the tenant is in a bad situation, and so they arrange a mutually beneficial agreement. The laws are even more in favour of the tenant in Palestine than in the West. But, because I am not a Palestinian and because law isn't respected here, my landlady assumed that I would not have the protective community support, which determines everything here. So, she ordered my house bulldozed by thugs."
"To see Palestinians beating my Palestinian friends, to see Palestinians destroying a Palestinian house, which is old enough under Palestinian law to be considered a listed building, is something that affected me to my core. Usually I expect to see Israelis doing these things."
Marwan Tarazi, Director of the Computer Center, commented that, "Before the Palestinian Authority came to power, there was such a strong sense of community between Palestinians that these actions would have been unthinkable. It is very sad that what happened tonight reflects the level of apathy that we Palestinians have reached. We are in a situation where we can't even find someone who can protect us and stand for our rights and the rights of our friends. To see something like this happen to someone like Nigel who has given so much for the Palestinian cause and at the hands of Palestinians is very disheartening."
Hanan Elmasu, coordinator of Birzeit's Human Rights Action Project, stated that "I believe this sets a precedent as I have never heard of Palestinians demolishing an individual's home in the West Bank, especially not the house of an international working for a highly respected Palestinian organisation."
Adam Hanieh, human rights worker for LAW - the Palestinian Society for the Protection of Human Rights and the Environment, who arrived shortly after to witness the situation, commented, "Today I was looking for pictures of Israeli house demolitions for a publication. I never thought I would arrive back in Ramallah, where I live, to find the Palestinian security forces destroying a house inhabited by Palestinians and an international who has worked so much for the rights of the Palestinian people."
"It is outrageous to find when someone has spent so long trying to report the truth about the affairs in the Palestinian areas that the security forces and other Palestinians would go to such lengths to stop him from living in Palestine in his own home. Have the Palestinians, who are so obviously short of friends in their current situation, suddenly decided to attack one of their friends?"
Nigel Parry, the others who live in the house, and other friends sleep tonight in their garden. "I never thought," said Nigel, "that I would say, 'I've seen this on TV happening to Palestinians and now I am experiencing it myself. I don’t mean this in the sense that I can somehow live outside the conflict. When you come to live here and work for the Palestinians, you assume your life will change."
"You assume that, even though you have an international passport, you will go through at least 10 percent of what Palestinians experience. But to find one of the most insidious Israeli repressive measures literally happening in your backyard, perpetrated by Palestinians, is something really disturbing."
Birzeit University once again underlines the importance of the rule of law in Palestine. Please express your concern about these events to the following people:
(Nigel Parry also would appreciate e-mails of solidarity: [deleted]President Yasser Arafat
Palestinian Authority, Al-Muntada
Gaza, Palestinian Authority
Fax: +972-7-822366
Mr Freih Abu Meddein
Minister of Justice
Ministry of Justice
Abu Khadra Building
Omar al-Mukhtar Street
Gaza, Palestinian Authority
Faxes: + 972-7-867109
Colonel Jibril Rajoub
Head of Preventive Security
Jericho, Palestinian Authority
Faxes: + 972-2-992-1273
[ENDS]