‘Israel’ forces 21-member Palestinian family to self-demolish home in Jerusalem
Occupied Palestine (QNN)- Israeli occupation authorities forced a 21-member Palestinian family to self-demolish its home in al-Tour neighborhood in occupied Jerusalem on Tuesday.
At the order of the Israeli municipality, the Abu Ghannam family self-demolished its home in the al-Tour neighborhood to avoid paying 200,000 shekels in exorbitant demolition costs to the Israeli municipality (the staff and the police) if it carries out the demolition.
Watch | Under pressure from the Israeli municipality, the Abu Ghannam family in the occupied Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan embarked today on demolishing their own house that housed four Palestinian households.#SaveSilwan#StopEthnicCleansingOfPalestine pic.twitter.com/DMNFCqjDaI
— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) July 6, 2021
The Abu Ghannam family in the occupied Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan embarked today on demolishing their own house at the order of the Israeli municipality. The family said they had no choice but to do so.#SaveSilwan pic.twitter.com/Vvep17MW7G
— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) July 6, 2021
The Abu Ghannam family in the occupied Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan embarked today on demolishing their own house at the order of the Israeli municipality. The family said they had no choice but to do so.#SaveSilwan pic.twitter.com/KT2r8WOTbT
— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) July 6, 2021
The Abu Ghannam family has been living in its home since 2013.
The Abu Ghannam family building consisted of 4 apartments, one of them was under construction. Each apartment was inhabited by a 7-member family.
The sister of Ahmad Abu Ghannam, the owner of the building, said that this is not the first time her family faced Israel’s threat of demolitions, as in 1994, her father faced the same situation and was forced by the occupation to demolish his home and the occupation forces threw their stuff in the streets and they were homeless.
Using the pretext of illegal building, ‘Israel’ demolishes houses on a regular basis to restrict Palestinian expansion in occupied Jerusalem.
At the same time, the municipality and the occupation government built tens of thousands of housing units in illegal settlements in occupied East Jerusalem for Jews with a goal to offset the demographic balance in favour of the Israeli settlers in the occupied city.
‘Israel’ has been moving its citizens into the neighbourhood since the 1980s. This has resulted in numerous human rights violations, including the forced eviction and displacement of Palestinian residents.
Hundreds of Palestinian families are being threatened with evictions and house demolitions from their homes by illegal settler groups, fully supported by the Israeli government.
There are nearly 700,000 Israeli settlers living in 256 illegal settlements and outposts scattered across the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem. Israeli settlements are illegal under international law.
The Israeli court had previously rejected many appeals filed by the residents of Jerusalem, and allowed “Ateret Cohanim” to continue its procedures relevant to the immediate expelling of the Palestinian families.
Ateret Cohanim, a settler organization, has been seeking, with the support of Israeli occupation authorities, to forcibly evict some Palestinian families in Silwan, claiming the land is rightfully owned by a Jewish trust active in the area more than 100 years ago.
