Read about some other locations visited during this tour
Bethlehem, Hebron, the Naqab/Negev, Ramallah and the Jordan Valley
Photo: Jeff Halper overlooking Jerusalem with tour participants
ICAHD sets the scene
Essential to all our tours is ICAHD’s ‘Matrix of Control’ tour which takes participants to different locations in East Jerusalem to see how Israel’s settlement project has created irreversible “facts on the ground”. The historical and political framing is presented which sets the foundation for the study tour programme.
The ‘Matrix of Control’ tour ends in the Maale Adumim settlement with its population approaching 40,000. Located in the Judean Desert, it has an extensive irrigation system watering its lush gardens and supplying water to four Olympic-sized swimming pools. It also features a water park (pictured) not used for swimming but for boating.
In Silwan with Fakhri Abu Diab
In Silwan, just below the Dung Gate in Jerusalem’s Old City, participants stopped to see community leader Fakhri Abu Diab and his wife on the ruins of their home that was demolished on 14th February 2024 on the grounds that it was constructed without a building permit. However, Israel’s apartheid policies means that despite applications presented by Palestinians, only 1-3% of them are approved annually which results in a shortage of 20,000 housing units in East Jerusalem and currently over 20,000 demolition orders are held by Palestinian families in East Jerusalem.
Photo: Ruins from demolition on 14 February 2024
See the ruins of the Abu Diab home and the setting of the small new home that has been rebuilt in these two short videos:
See the ruins of the Abu Diab home
Watch the video here (27 sec)
Setting of the small new home that has been rebuilt
Watch the video here (29 sec)
Photo: Mr and Mrs Fakhri Abu Diab in their new home.
Fakhri thanks ICAHD supporters for helping to fund their new home.
Watch video here (34 sec)