A Palestinian family from the occupied Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan embarked today on demolishing its home after it was forced to do so by the Israeli municipality of West Jerusalem.
The owner of the house, Bahaa Zaytoon, said he was forced to demolish the second floor of the house which was built four years ago to avoid paying exorbitant costs if the municipality carries out the demolition on its own. The demolition decision cited unpermitted construction as a pretext.
The demolition of the house will leave Zaytoon and his family of six homeless.
Using the pretext of building without a permit, which is rarely granted to Palestinians in the occupied city, the Israeli municipality has condemned hundreds of Palestinian-owned houses as part of a policy aimed to restrict Palestinian expansion and number in occupied Jerusalem.
At the same time, the municipality and government build tens of thousands of housing units in illegal settlements in East Jerusalem for Jews with a goal to offset the demographic balance in favor of the Jewish settlers in the occupied city.
Source: Palestinian News & Info Agency