December 03 of 2018, Ahmad Sayyam from Silwan demolished his garage, store house and stairs after the Israeli occupation municipality in Jerusalem sent him a demolition order claiming that the structures were built before getting proper licenses.

Ahmad from Ein al-Louzeh quarter in Silwan demolished his own garage (8 m²) , storehouse (30 m²) and stairs, the structures were built 2 years ago.

Employees from the Israeli occupation municipality broke into his home in December 3 and gave him 48 hours to carry out the demolition, in case he fails to implant the operation, the municipality will do it and file a high fine on the owner.

Noteworthy, The occupation municipality does not give any building permissions in Silwan. Silwan built up area lacks organization and the occupation’s municipality attempts to halt any developmental projects in the area. Silwan is highly targeted by Israeli colonial institutions due to its closeness to Al-Aqsa mosque.

Self-Demolition is a Crime against Humanity:

Definition: When an owner of a structure is forced to demolish his property by himself, it is called 'self demolition' or 'silent demolition'. It used to be carried out in quiet or in silence as the name suggests. But recently, due to their increased number of cases, victims have come to disclose that such type of demolition exists and that it is their only choice and speak out about the inhumanity of the Israeli occupation for forcing such a practice.

This kind of demolition is mainly imposed on Palestinians in Jerusalem in efforts to displace them and Judaize the city.

“Humiliation is indeed to destroy your own house by your hands knowing that your family will be homeless” (Land Research Center). What also forces people to do so is the financial fine that will be imposed on them in case they fail at carrying out the demolition; the Israeli occupation authorities come and demolish the structure where all the costs will be billed to the affected citizen

About Silwan: [1]

1 Km south Jerusalem, Silwan is surrounded by Jerusalem (north & east), the green line (west) ,  Ath-Thori and Jabal Al-Mukabir (south).

Silwan has an area of 1,400 dunums, 855 of them are the town’s built up area.

[1] GIS-LRC

This case study is part of Canaan project