The Demolition of Palestinian Houses in Jerusalem during the month of July 2009

During the month of July 2009, the Jerusalem Occupation Municipality continued implementing its ethnic cleansing policies and practices in different forms and shapes most ugly of which was the demolition of Palestinian homes. It’s been documented that 9 Palestinian homes (with a total area of 407 m²) spread around a number of locations throughout Jerusalem (including Beit Hanina, Silwan, Sur Baher in addition to the Old City) were demolished either partially or totally during July 2009. Beit Hanina was targeted the most during the said month as 3 houses were demolished there. In total, 60 Palestinian Jerusalemites (of which 40 were children) became homeless or crowded in their homes after occupation forces demolished (or forced the demolition of) their houses either totally or partially.    

 

The forced self demolition is an old-new phenomenon implemented in the past under the slogan “Demolish Your Home by Yourself.” During the not-so-distant past Palestinian Jerusalemites would find themselves obliged to demolish their own homes by themselves. Yet, they would feel ashamed of talking about it and admitting that they have destroyed their own place of residence. The numbers of such cases were high in the past, however it seems that the ever-increasing number of these cases has pushed the victims of this policy to talk about in the media as it is considered to be a cruel punishment that defies sanity. The “logic” used by the occupation forces in implementing this policy is as follows; the housestructure was built without a permit which means that it is “illegal.” The owner is, thus, obliged to demolish it and remove the debris. Then, the owner is obligated to take pictures of the housestructure and deliver it to the Building and Organization Department at the Municipality as to verify whether or not an appropriate demolition has taken place. In case the Department was not “satisfied” with the demolition, it sets a time line during which the owner should carry the demolition in a complete fashion. The Municipality Court would then set a date for a court hearing to look into the matter of non-compliance with the demolition order. A hefty fine is usually decided upon by the court. The role of the Municipality would, then, be to demolish the house on the expense of the owner. If the owner opts not to pay the cost associated with the demolition, he will be jailed until the costs are paid. As such, the owner would find himself obligated to destroy his own house as to avoid all other administrative steps against him that can be taken by the Municipality and its associated court.      

 

Among the 9 demolished houses 4 were demolished on the hands of its owners as to avoid any reprisal steps taken against them by the Jerusalem Municipality.

 

On the 12^th of July, 2009, Mr. Abdel Rahman Mahmoud Abu Tir demolished part of his house (area = 30 m²) located in the Old City of Jerusalem. Earlier in March 2009 the Israeli Border Police accompanied a Jerusalem Municipality employee as he took pictures of the house of the family. He also gave a citation to Mr. Abdel Rahman under the pretext of building without a permit and threatened that the Municipality will come back within a week to demolish the building at the expense of the family if it didn’t carryout the demolition itself. As such, the family carried out the demolition on the 12^th of March, 2009 as to avoid any other punitive steps by the Municipality.

 

On the 24^th of June, 2009, the Jerusalem Municipality forced the family of Mr. Mujeer Al Din Mohammad Qatina (39 years old) to demolish a part of its house located in Al Wad Neighborhood in the Old City of Jerusalem. The demolished building consisted of a room, a kitchen and a bathroom of a combined area of 20 m². The structure was built 12 years ago due to the excessive need to expand the house in which 6 people live.