Israeli court upholds demolition of residential building in Jerusalem

An Israeli occupation court today upheld the demolition of a residential building in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan, according to WAFA correspondent.

She said that the court issued a ruling rejecting the postponement or freezing of the demolition of the 10-apartment building, located in Wadi Qaddum neighborhood, south of Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, and giving the approximately 100 occupants until Wednesday, December 7, to self-demolish the building or pay exorbitant costs if the Jerusalem Municipality carries out the demolition.

Two of the families living in the building have already had their former residential apartments demolished. It would be the second time for them to be displaced.

Silwan town occupies an area of 5,640 donums and consists of 12 neighborhoods occupied by 58,500 Palestinians. A total of 78 colonial settlement outposts, housing 2,800 settlers, are built on the town’s land.

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 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.

Although Palestinians in East Jerusalem, a part of the internationally recognized Palestinian Territory that has been subject to Israeli military occupation since 1967, they are denied their citizenship rights and are instead classified only as “residents” whose permits can be revoked if they move away from the city for more than a few years.

They are also discriminated against in all aspects of life including housing, employment and services, and are unable to access services in the West Bank due to the construction of Israel’s separation wall.

According to a report by the Israeli human rights group B’Tselem, the Israeli High Court could be liable for war crimes for their policies that led to the dispossession of Palestinians from their properties in Area C of the West Bank.

The report, Fake Justice, shows that the court’s support of Israeli planning policy is tantamount to support for dispossession and forcible transfer of Palestinians, a war crime under international law.

Source: Palestine News and Information Agency