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Israels policies violate right to housing and need urgentrevision, according to independent UN rights expert

JERUSALEM (12 February 2012) Raquel Rolnik, UN Special Rapporteur on the rightto adequate housing, has said that after the recent privatization, deregulation andcommercialization of public assets in Israel, urban and housing policies have made itincreasingly difficult for low income families to obtain affordable accommodation,violating their right to adequate housing. Speaking (*) at the conclusion of a twoweek trip to Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory, Rolnik said Israels housingpolicies require urgent revision as shown by the massive protests last summer.According to Rolnik, the Israeli authorities have had an impressive record ofproviding adequate housing for waves of Jewish immigrants and refugees but todaythese policies have failed to respond to the needs of minorities and the socially

disadvantaged.

Palestinian minorities living inside Israel (also known as Israeli Arabs) andPalestinians living under military occupation are affected by on-going threats againsttheir right to housing, according to Rolnik. In very different legal and geographicalcontexts, from the Galilee and the Negev to East Jerusalem and the West Bank, theIsraeli authorities promote a territorial development model that excludes,discriminates against and displaces minorities, particularly affecting Palestiniancommunities.

According to Ms. Rolnik, the plans for relocating Bedouins in the Negev inside

Israel as well as decades of promotion of Jewish settlements in the West Bank andin Palestinian neighbourhoods in East Jerusalem are the new frontiers ofdispossession of traditional inhabitants, and the implementation of a strategy ofJudaization and control of the territory.

Throughout my visit I received repeated complaints regarding lack of housing,threats of demolitions and evictions, overcrowding, the disproportional number ofdemolitions affecting Palestinian communities side by side with the accelerateddevelopment of predominantly Jewish settlements, explained the Rapporteur.

The right to housing is denied further in the occupied Palestinian territory. In EastJerusalem and the areas of the West Bank under Israeli military control, policiesadopted by Israel restrict Palestinians from building legally through various means.The number of permits issued is grossly disproportional to housing needs leadingmany Palestinians to build without obtaining a permit. As a result, numerousPalestinians homes or extensions to these are considered illegal so that theinhabitants are subjected to eviction orders and the demolition of their houses. Atthe same time, Ms. Ronik noted that settlements, built in violation of international law,have led to a decrease in the amount of land and resources available to Palestinians.

The situation is even worse in Gaza. Rolnik noted that the blockade to Gaza Strip

constitutes the most extreme expression of separation and restriction to Palestiniancommunities survival and expansion. I met persons who were living in substandard

Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights www.ohchr.orgPalais des Nations Email: press-info@ohchr.orgCH-1211 Geneva 10 Tel: +41 22 917 9310Switzerland Tel: +41 22 917 9383

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conditions and families who had had their homes demolished by Israeli militaryoperations. I urge Israel to end the blockade in order to ensure that the minimumneeds of the population living in Gaza are met.

Israels spatial strategy has been heavily shaped by security concerns, given thebelligerent, conflictive nature of Israel-Palestine relations, with waves of violence andterror. But certainly the non-democratic and discriminatory elements in Israeli spatial

planning and urban development strategies appear to contribute to deepening of theconflict, instead of promoting peace, concluded the Rapporteur.

Ms. Rolnik is an independent expert charged by the UN Human Rights Council tomonitor and report on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequatestandard of living, and on the right to non-discrimination in this context. During hervisit she met with officials and representatives of the Government of Israel and thePalestinian National Authority, international agencies as well as non-governmentalorganizations both in Israel and in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. A reportdetailing all findings of her mission will be presented to the Human Rights Council in2013.

(*)Check the full end-of-mission statement:

ENDS

Raquel Rolnik (Brazil) was appointed as Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as acomponent of the right to an adequate standard of living, and on the right to non-discrimination in this context by the UN Human Rights Council, in May 2008. As SpecialRapporteur, she is independent from any government or organization and serves in herindividual capacity. An architect and urban planner, Rolnik has extensive experience in the

area of housing and urban policies.

Learn more about the mandate and work of the Special Rapporteur on adequate housing:http://www2.ohchr.org/english/issues/housing/index.htm

OHCHR Country Page Occupied Palestinian Territories:http://www.ohchr.org/EN/countries/MENARegion/Pages/PSIndex.aspx

OHCHR Country Page Israel:http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Countries/MENARegion/Pages/ILIndex.aspx

For inquiries and media requests, please contact - +272 54 2802116, +272 54 2596453,

+41 79752 0484 or write to srhousing@ohchr.org

Formedia inquiries related to other UN independent experts: Xabier Celaya, OHCHR Media Unit (+41 22 917 9383 / xcelaya@ohchr.org)

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