"The soldiers have arrived, they are destroying houses!" said Haj Sami Sadek from from the tiny Palestinian village of Akaba, south-east of
Jenin in the West Bank. 

The Israeli Army demolished two homes on December 23, leaving four adults and twelve children homeless in the cold of winter.  Ten more houses are scheduled to be demolished in the next few days.  If you are spending these days celebrating Chanukah and Christmas at home, you can imagine the level of devastation that a home demolition can cause in a family.

Letter-writing has made a difference in stalling home demolitions for long enough to get a court injunction.  On October 23, hundreds of people wrote letters and stalled the demolition of these homes in Akaba.  Today, your letter can make the difference in the lives of these Palestinian families. 

The Israeli government has not granted any building permits in the town of Akaba since 1976.  So, Palestinian families are forced to either leave the town, live in difficult conditions, or build without permits. 

The Caterpillar Corporation has been demolishing Palestinian homes since Israel conquered the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem in 1967.  Caterpillar has been responsible for the demolition of over 12,737 Palestinian homes.  Find out more about the US campaign to hold Caterpillar accountable for human rights abuses in the Palestinian territories.

Gush Shalom
The Israeli peace group Gush Shalom alerted Jewish Voice for Peace to the situation in Akaba and did incredible work in preparing the action alert for distribution.  Click here to find out more about Gush Shalom.