After the occupation authorities refused requests to build them
Palestinians demolish their homes themselves in East Jerusalem
Relatives of the Shalaldeh family monitor the scene of the bulldozer that the family rented to forcibly demolish their home. A.F.B.
Sadness in the heart of a member of the Shalaldeh family after the demolition of his home. A.F.B.
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On the second of June, Palestinian Alaa Burqan personally demolished his home in south of occupied East Jerusalem, after the Jerusalem municipality had put it before two options, only two: either he demolishes the building, which the court deemed illegal, or the municipality does so at his expense.
A large number of Palestinians resort to building homes, shops, and other facilities on their lands in East Jerusalem, without obtaining a permit from the Israeli municipality, which they accuse of delaying the issuance of permits, or refusing to give them at all, under various pretexts. Meanwhile, the municipality says that these buildings lack legal building standards.
"I submitted a request to the municipality for a license, but it was in vain," said Alaa, a 35-year-old journeyman. He built his house though. "I paid about 75,000 shekels (about $ 22,000) for the lawyer and to survey the land, but the court's decision confirmed the demolition," he added.
Alaa rented a bulldozer, which bulldozed the building before his eyes.
According to the father of four children, the youngest of whom is an eight-year-old girl, the court decided to demolish, on the pretext that the building was not licensed, and imposed on Alaa to pay a fine of 60,000 shekels (about $ 17,500), "of which I have paid 20 thousand so far."
Burgan spent all his savings on the 135-square-meter house, which cost him about 800,000 shekels.
Today he lives with his family in a house that pays a rent allowance of 2,800 shekels (about $ 820) a month.
"It is very difficult to demolish by hand," he says with regret, standing on the rubble of his house. "I spent four years preparing the house."
The Jerusalem municipality says that 44 homes were demolished in East Jerusalem by the first half of the year, including self-demolished homes. While the figures of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in the Occupied Palestinian Territory indicate the demolition of 81 facilities in the east of the city in the same period, 44 of them demolished by their owners.
A single facility may contain several housing units.
Very insulting
Israel occupied East Jerusalem, whose Palestinian population exceeds 300,000 today, after the 1967 war, and annexed it later, in a move not recognized by the international community.
The Palestinians say that the goal of the demolition policy is to displace them and empty the city of them.
The Jerusalem municipality advisor for East Jerusalem affairs, Ben Avrahami, says that "there are various legal reasons behind the demolition orders on both sides of the city," including building without permits, or building additional housing units that are not covered by the permit. He adds, "The demolitions are carried out according to an Israeli court ruling, and are subject to a very careful legal examination."
The bulletin of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, issued in April 2019, points to restrictions in the planning system that Israel implements in East Jerusalem, which makes "obtaining building permits practically impossible."
According to the bulletin, the area allocated for the construction of buildings in East Jerusalem does not exceed 13%, and a large part of it is already used. While there is 35% designated for settlements in East Jerusalem, according to the bulletin.
The director of the Jerusalem Center for Social and Economic Rights, Ziyad Al-Hammouri, believes that "self-demolition is very humiliating and leaves great psychological effects on the family, in addition to financial burdens."
He says that many people resort to self-demolition due to the desire to avoid additional financial burdens, pointing to the "high poverty rate in the city, which exceeds 80%."
The Palestinians also prefer, according to him, to resort to self-demolition "in order to avoid being arrested by the Israeli security services, in case they are unable to pay the costs of the demolition to the municipality."
Shortage of housing units
On the second of July, the Palestinian Shalaldeh family demolished two residential units in the town of Al-Tur in East Jerusalem, measuring 130 square meters, on their own as well.
The owner of one of the apartments, Sarah Shalalda, the mother of six, says that the matter had a negative psychological impact on her daughter Tala (9 years old), who "dreamed of a large room that brought her together and her two sisters."
She adds that "a difficult feeling, a dream and a demolition, we were about to move to live in it, we wanted to reduce the rental costs."
According to the United Nations Office of Humanitarian Affairs, the self-demolition that took place in East Jerusalem during the first half of this year displaced 65 children, and affected 85 other children.
Palestinians in East Jerusalem suffer a housing crisis. According to the head of the Jerusalem Housing Union, Mahmoud Zahayka, they need between 30,000 and 40,000 housing units.
Zahaika believes that the Palestinians "are forced to build without a permit, due to the high cost of rents and licenses alike, and the lack of permits granted by the municipality."
He explains that "the average rents in Jerusalem amount to 800 dollars a month, with a difference between one region and another, while the average cost of a building permit for one apartment is 50 thousand dollars."
He points out that the Jerusalem municipality grants building permits “to only 20% of Jerusalemites. The procedures may take at least five years. For his part, Ben Avrahami says that the municipality "gives about 250 building permits to Palestinians every year."
Despite the constant threat of demolition, the Palestinians are clinging to building, hoping that they will be among the lucky ones to get a permit.
"I have spent all my life living in rented homes," Alaa says. They don't want us to stay in this country. With that, we are stationed here ».
According to the United Nations Office of Humanitarian Affairs, the self-demolition that took place in East Jerusalem during the first half of this year displaced 65 children, and affected 85 other children.
The Jerusalem municipality grants building permits to only 20% of Jerusalemites, and the procedures may take at least five years.
A large number of Palestinians resort to building homes or shops without obtaining a permit from the Israeli municipality, which is delaying the issuance of permits.