PHOTOS: Thousands protest policy of home demolitions in Tel Aviv

Some 50,000 Palestinian homes in Israel are under threat of demolition. The Israeli government is not addressing the serious housing crisis among the Arab population, activists and politicians say.

Photos by Oren Ziv/Activestills.org

Thousands of Palestinian citizens of Israel demonstrate against the government's housing discrimination and policy of home demolitions, Rabin Square, Tel Aviv, April 28, 2015. (Oren Ziv/Activestills.org)
Thousands of Palestinian citizens of Israel demonstrate against the government’s housing discrimination and policy of home demolitions, Rabin Square, Tel Aviv, April 28, 2015. (Oren Ziv/Activestills.org)

Several thousand Palestinian citizens of Israel held a demonstration in the center of Tel Aviv Tuesday evening, demanding an end to home demolitions that overwhelmingly target Arab citizens.

The demonstration coincided with a one-day general strike among the Palestinian population in Israel, called for by the Higher Monitoring Committee, a group that historically mobilizes the community politically.

Related: Israel demolishes homes in unrecognized Palestinian village

Higher Monitoring Committee representative Jarayis Matar accused the government of failing to find solutions to the acute housing crisis in Arab locales, instead escalating home demolitions.

Joint List Chairman Ayman Odeh at the rally against home demolitions, Rabin Square, Tel Aviv, April 28, 2015. (Oren Ziv/Activestills.org)
Joint List Chairman Ayman Odeh at the rally against home demolitions, Rabin Square, Tel Aviv, April 28, 2015. (Oren Ziv/Activestills.org)

“Take for example that in 2014 the Israel Land Administration issued tenders for 38,261 housing units in Jewish municipalities compared to only 1,844 units in Arab cities,” noted Joint List chairman Ayman Odeh.

Only 41 out of 139 Arab municipalities have updated master plans, Odeh added, “700 Jewish towns have been built since 1948 and in the Center and the North not one Arab city.”

“There are 50,000 Arab homes under the threat of demolition as a result of this policy that forces people to build without permits,” Odeh said.

Thousands of Palestinian citizens of Israel demonstrate against the government's housing discrimination and policy of home demolitions, Rabin Square, Tel Aviv, April 28, 2015. (Oren Ziv/Activestills.org)
Thousands of Palestinian citizens of Israel demonstrate against the government’s housing discrimination and policy of home demolitions, Rabin Square, Tel Aviv, April 28, 2015. (Oren Ziv/Activestills.org)
A man holds a sign that reads, ‘Don’t turn Lod into a settlement.’ Thousands of Palestinian citizens of Israel demonstrate against the government's housing discrimination and policy of home demolitions, Rabin Square, Tel Aviv, April 28, 2015. (Oren Ziv/Activestills.org)
A man holds a sign that reads, ‘Don’t turn Lod into a settlement.’ Thousands of Palestinian citizens of Israel demonstrate against the government’s housing discrimination and policy of home demolitions, Rabin Square, Tel Aviv, April 28, 2015. (Oren Ziv/Activestills.org)
Palestinian flags wave in front of Tel Aviv City Hall at a demonstration against the government's housing discrimination and policy of home demolitions, Rabin Square, Tel Aviv, April 28, 2015. (Oren Ziv/Activestills.org)
Palestinian flags wave in front of Tel Aviv City Hall at a demonstration against the government’s housing discrimination and policy of home demolitions, Rabin Square, Tel Aviv, April 28, 2015. (Oren Ziv/Activestills.org)
Palestinian citizens of Israel demonstrate against the government's housing discrimination and policy of home demolitions, Rabin Square, Tel Aviv, April 28, 2015. (Oren Ziv/Activestills.org)
Palestinian citizens of Israel demonstrate against the government’s housing discrimination and policy of home demolitions, Rabin Square, Tel Aviv, April 28, 2015. (Oren Ziv/Activestills.org)
Palestinian citizens of Israel demonstrate against the government's housing discrimination and policy of home demolitions, Rabin Square, Tel Aviv, April 28, 2015. (Oren Ziv/Activestills.org)
Palestinian citizens of Israel demonstrate against the government’s housing discrimination and policy of home demolitions, Rabin Square, Tel Aviv, April 28, 2015. (Oren Ziv/Activestills.org)

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