750 Jerusalemites are on their way to being displaced despite having identification documents

Wadi Yasoul al-Maqdisi... The nightmare of demolition threatens 84 homes

  • The occupation plans to establish a forest and a national park in Wadi Yasoul.

    Emirates today

  • Wadi Yasoul is the closest neighborhood of Silwan to Al-Aqsa Mosque.

    Emirates today

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100 meters south of the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque, the nightmare of demolition and displacement creeps into the homes of the Jerusalemites in the Wadi Yasoul neighborhood in Silwan, which affects all residential units and buildings in the Jerusalem neighborhood, without exception.

The Jerusalemite woman, Umm Amer Abu Aida, fears that the occupation bulldozers will demolish her house at any moment, which houses 10 people, half of whom are children, in addition to her son's newly built house for him and his wife to live in.

"My eldest son is about to get married, and he has built an apartment on the floor directly above our house, in which we have lived for many years," the Jerusalemite lady, Umm Amer, told "Emirates Today", in a voice filled with heartbreak and sadness.

constant worry

The occupation municipality in Jerusalem issued a decision to demolish 56 of the 84 houses in the Wadi Yasoul neighborhood in the town of Siloun, south of Al-Aqsa Mosque, under the pretext that it is under the influence of the scheme of green areas and natural parks, in which the Elad Settlement Association seeks to build tourism and Judaization projects inside.

As a result, the families of Wadi Yasoul al-Maqdisi neighborhood petitioned the Israeli Central Court, objecting to the demolition of their homes, as they have identification papers proving that they own their homes, which they built decades ago.

However, at the end of last November, the Occupation Court rejected the appeal submitted by the residents of Wadi Yasoul, which demanded to freeze the demolition decisions issued against 84 residential buildings, 56 of which face the immediate threat of demolition. From their homes, homelessness on the side of the road.

Umm Amer continues: “Following the rejection of our petition, we live in a constant state of anxiety that the Israeli mechanisms will demolish our house at any moment. In the midst of the cold winter weather.

And she continues: "We spent the outcome of many years building our homes, spending the rest of our lives, and realizing the dreams of our children. Today, the occupation plans to demolish them in moments, as if they had not existed for decades."

waiting for displacement

Not far from the Jerusalemite Umm Amer house, there are the houses of the Shweiki family, the oldest houses that were built in the Wadi Yasoul neighborhood tens of years ago, and which face the threat of demolition at any moment, so that homelessness will be the fate of its members and children.

Walid Al-Shweiki, spokesman for the people of Wadi Yasoul neighborhood, he and his family of eight live in a house whose area does not exceed 130 square metres. Chapters of the Palestinian Nakba.

A spokesperson for the residents of Wadi Yasoul neighborhood indicates that the threat of mass forced displacement extends to all 750 residents of Wadi Yasoul, 450 of whom are children.

Al-Shweiki told "Emirates Today", "The occupation claims that the reason for demolishing our homes is to build without a permit, but in fact the municipality of Israel in the city of Al-Quds Al-Sharif does not allow us to obtain these licenses, and it also rejects all organizational schemes to license our homes in Wadi Yasoul." which we have been advancing since 2004.

He added: “We presented to the occupation municipality three projects and engineering schemes to organize the Wadi Yasoul neighborhood, and to grant the residents of Jerusalem building licenses, but the occupation municipality rejected all of them, in addition to engaging in fierce judicial battles in the corridors of the Israeli courts, and paying huge fines for violations issued by the occupation municipality, on the pretext of Unauthorized construction for 17 years.

According to Al-Shweiki, the occupation municipality plans to transform the Wadi Yasoul neighborhood into a forest called the “Forest of Peace,” and to build biblical gardens over the ruins of the homes of the Jerusalemites.

Al-Shweiki said, “The neighborhood of Wadi Yasoul is the closest to the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque among the neighborhoods of the Jerusalemite town of Silwan.

direct legislation

For his part, a spokesman for the Defense Committee for Silwan residents, Fakhri Abu Diab, confirms that the Israeli Supreme Court’s rejection of the appeal request of the residents of Wadi Yasoul neighborhood is direct legislation to demolish homes and displace the entire neighborhood’s families.

Abu Diab says that the Jerusalemite families in Wadi Yasoul, despite possessing maps and identification documents for their homes, the Israeli municipality in Jerusalem refuses to license the homes built on top of them, and allow them to expand.

A spokesman for the Defense Committee for the People of Silwan indicates that the entire process of demolishing the Wadi Yasoul neighborhood comes within the structural plan of the occupation municipality, for the Old City in the city of Jerusalem and its suburbs, as it provides for the placement of all areas and flats of land in the town of Silwan, including the neighborhoods of Ain al-Lawzeh. Wadi Hilweh, Al-Bustan area, and Al-Harah Al-Wusta area, as areas prohibited for construction and housing, which were classified as natural green areas.

Abu Diab says that “the implementation of the decision to demolish the homes of the Jerusalemites in the Wadi Yasoul neighborhood has become a ghost chasing them at every moment. Al-Bustan in the town of Silwan.

• The threat of mass forced displacement extends to all residents of Wadi Yasoul, including 450 children.

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