Palestinian resident of Jerusalem forced to tear down own home

Jerusalem (QNN) – After being pressured from the West Jerusalem Israeli municipality to demolish his own home or pay exorbitant fees if the municipality crews demolish it, a Palestinian citizen of occupied Jerusalem started since yesterday tearing down his own home.

Mohammad Abbasi, a citizen of the neighborhood of Silwan in occupied East Jerusalem, said he started the demolition after he received a demolition order from the Israeli municipality under the pretext of construction without a permit.

Abbasi used a mini excavator to knock down the concrete walls and pillars of the uncompleted house, which he was building on his land with the hope to live in it with his family.

Palestinians in East Jerusalem say getting an Israeli building permit is very difficult and therefore they are forced to build without one.

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 government build thousands of housing units in illegal settlements in East Jerusalem for Jewish settlers with a goal to offset the demographic balance in favor of the Jewish settlers in the occupied city.