Dozers of Israel Municipality demolish a building in the Jerusalem town of Silwan

Dozers of the Israeli occupation municipality demolished on October 26, 2016 a residential building in Silwan town, south AL-Aqsa mosque on the claim of "unlicensed construction".

It should be marked that the building consisted of four residential apartments that belong to Ja'afreh family. Having been established 17 years ago, each apartment totaled 130m² in area. The following families lived in the building:

Source : Field observation- Department of Monitoring Israeli Violations- Land Research Center-2016

Citizen Isa told Land Research Center the following:

"  The building was constructed in 2000 to be home for my brothers' families and my family as well. The building is of two floors and consists of four apartments. Each apartment is composed of three bedrooms, hall, kitchen and bathroom.

In 2008, we received demolition order from the municipality and were requested to appear before court.  The court considered the structure unlicensed and ordered it demolished. We appealed to the decision but to no avail since the court always claims the structure's location as green area, where construction is prohibited. Not only, the municipality imposed a 60,000 NIS violation fine on us. Despite all attempts to stop the demolition by lawyers, the order was approved effective and demolition eventually took place".

He also added:

" One day before demolition, an officer from Israel police arrived at the location and verbally gave us a deadline until 3:00 a.m. in the morning to evacuate the building. At 3:30 a.m., a force arrived to the area with a dozer and brought the building down. The demolition lasted until 8:00 in the morning. As a result, we became homeless and we have to start from the scratch all over again".

Noteworthy, Land Research Center field team documented 17 demolition operation in Silwan since the beginning of 201. The following are some of the documented reports:

–  07/01/2016: The municipality of the Israeli occupation in Jerusalem demolishes a residence in Silwan (LINK( .

–  09/01/2016:  Siam family evicts its residence in the area of Wad Hilweh after cracks appeared due to excavations under beneath it (LINK).

– 17/01/2016: The occupation Municipality oblige Jerusalem man to self -demolish his barn (LINK).

–  20/01/2016: The occupation dozers demolish an under construction residence in the Jerusalem Wad Qaddum neighborhood (LINK).

–  02/02/2016: The Israeli Occupation Forces demolish residences in Jerusalem neighborhoods (LINK).

–  21/03/2016 : Under Israeli threat: Al-Abbasi family self-demolishes its residence in the Jerusalem town of Silwan (LINK).

–  16/06/2016: Israeli Municipality of Jerusalem ratifies the construction of four colonial residential units in Silwan, south Al-Aqsa mosque (LINK).

–  19/07/2016: Demolition campaign on structures of the Jerusalem towns of Silwan and Beit Hanina (LINK).

–  22/07/2016 :The Israeli occupation municipality orders Qaraien family to self-demolish their structure in Wad Hileh area (LINK).

–  25/07/2016 : Israel Municipality orders a Jerusalemite to self-demolish his residence in the Silwan neighborhood of Al-Thawri (LINK).

–  03/09/2016: Dozers of the Israeli occupation municipality demolish two under-construction residences in Silwan (LINK)

Land Research Center LRC sees that demolitions contradict with all of the International conventions and Humanitarian laws including:

1. Article 17 of the (1948) Universal Declaration of Human Rights stating: “Everyone has the right to own property alone as well as in association with others. No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his property.”
2. Section ‹G› of article 23 of the (1907) The Hague Conventions asserting: “In addition to the prohibitions provided by special Conventions, it is especially forbidden to destroy or seize the enemy's property, unless such destruction or seizure be imperatively demanded by the necessities of war.”
3. Article 53 of the Geneva Fourth Convention (1948) declaring: “Any destruction by the Occupying Power of real or personal property belonging individually or collectively to private persons, or to the State, or to other public authorities, or to social or cooperative organizations, is prohibited, except where such destruction is rendered absolutely necessary by military operations.”
4. Section 1, Article 11 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (1966): “The States Parties to the present Covenant recognize the right of everyone to an adequate standard of living for himself and his family, including adequate food, clothing and housing, and to the continuous improvement of living conditions. The States Parties will take appropriate steps to ensure the realization of this right, recognizing to this effect the essential importance of international co-operation based on free consent."

Prepared by
 The Land Research Center
LRC