[Elected Official’s Name],

Israel has ordered the demolition of a football pitch in Aida Refugee Camp, which serves hundreds of Palestinian children, one of the very few open spaces in the West Bank where children can play.

Israel has falsely claimed the pitch was built without a permit in 2021, but Bethlehem’s mayor has confirmed this is incorrect. In the illegally occupied West Bank, Israel controls all planning, zoning, and construction permits. This system is deliberately engineered to restrict Palestinian communities and suffocate everyday life, in what the ICJ has ruled is a system of apartheid.

Between 2016 and 2021, Palestinians submitted more than 2,500 requests for building permits in the West Bank. Only 24 were approved.

Israel routinely uses the claim of missing permits as justification to demolish Palestinian homes, schools, and entire communities across the West Bank. This is classified as a form of ethnic cleansing, which has been ongoing for decades. Israel has no legal jurisdiction or authority over the West Bank, yet in 2025 alone, the designated apartheid state demolished at least 1,657 Palestinian buildings.

The Aida Refugee Camp football pitch is a lifeline to Palestinian children living under occupation and apartheid. It is a rare place of safety amid weekly Israeli military incursions, often involving tear gas, rubber bullets, and live ammunition.

Israel’s imminent illegal demolition of this essential site must be stopped. I urge you to contact the embassy immediately to intervene and prevent this terrible act, and stress international law’s requirement that all other demolitions cease.

Your constituent,