Mohamed Mohsen Wedd-Lydd

Arab neighborhoods in Lod became more like refugee camps. The demolition of Arab houses by the Israeli occupation authorities became frequent and settlement projects accelerated.

Lod has 85,000 residents, 50,000 Jews and 35,000 Palestinians, who live in the neighborhoods of Schnier, the station, the settlement and the green oasis.

In recent years, Arab families have moved to live in the Jewish neighborhoods due to the demolition of houses, the shortage of housing and the lack of building permits, and the lack of approval by the municipality to expand the influence of the Arab neighborhoods of housing and construction.

Ghazi Shaban, his son Omar and his wife and five grandchildren live in the Shneir neighborhood at the ruins of his family's house, which was demolished by the Israeli occupation authorities on the pretext of building without a permit.

Israeli bulldozers demolish Shaaban family house in Al-Lod (Al-Jazira)

Displacement concerns
Like the Shaaban family, hundreds of families in the Sunni Arab neighborhood of Shneir live in fear of displacement and fear that one day they will wake up with the sound of bulldozers and bulldozers.

"The police, as well as the municipality, which refused to respect the court's decision to freeze the demolition order, and police behavior are like gangs, not law enforcement," says Ghazi Shaaban.

The judicial process did not save the Sha'ban family's home from the demolition, despite lawyer Dargham Seif issuing an order to freeze the demolition until the file is broadcast in the court hearing on December 18.

"The bulldozers rushed to demolish the first floor, which is not covered by the notification. The municipality and even the police deal with the demolition of Arab houses in Lod and the residents' grievances in contravention of Israeli planning and building laws," Saif said.

He pointed out that the suffering of the Shaaban family did not stop at the demolition of her house. The police continued to harass her and intimidate her members by arresting the owner of the house Omar with three of his relatives, claiming that they had confronted the demolition.

Dozens of residents of the city and residents of the neighborhood who participated in the demonstrations and the popular movement that refuses to demolish and displacement were also arrested.

Elements of the Israeli police provide protection for bulldozers during the demolition (the island)

protest
The Popular Committee in Lod launched a series of protest activities and demonstrations calling for completion of planning and building plans and detailed structural maps of Arab neighborhoods to ensure the licensing of thousands of homes.

Committee member Khalid al-Zubarqa says 2005 was a milestone in the history of Lod, where the Israeli government took advantage of the plan to withdraw from settlements in the Gaza Strip. Settlers settled in the city to erase their Arab identity and Judaize them.

Al-Zubarqa told Al-Jazeera Net that "the escalation of the battle for survival and steadfastness in the city, which was inhabited 20 years ago, is about 15,000 Arabs and today they are more than 35,000."

He pointed out that the successive Israeli governments that declared Lod as a city for local treatment and national preference, supervised by the Prime Minister's Office, adopt a systematic policy of emptying the city of the Palestinians and changing its character from an Arab city to a Jewish one, thus allocating an initial budget of $ 50 million, Demolition and evacuation.

Zabarqa stressed that the demolition is an extension of the policy of displacement and Judaization adopted by the Israeli establishment against the coastal cities: Lod, Ramle, Jaffa, Haifa and Acre since the Nakba.

He pointed out that Lod had singled out a project to attract groups of settlers from the occupied West Bank, where settlement projects were set up near the Arab neighborhoods, which prevented the expansion and approval of maps, as well as the withholding of permits for family homes.

He warned the member of the Popular Committee of the plan to expand the projects of Judaization and settlement at the expense of the Arab presence in the city, stressing that the occupation authorities - a representative in the municipality and police - dealing with the Arabs in Lod and the mentality and tools of military rule, through the demolition and dissemination and promotion of violence and crime and the promotion of weapons and drugs, The dismantling of Arab society as a first stage of ethnic cleansing.