Saturday, September 12^th 2020, brothers Mohammed and Mustafa Al-Salayma demolished their apartments in Silwan south Al-Aqsa mosque, complying with the Israeli Occupation municipality resolution.

Mohammed Salayma told LRC:

“In July 2020, we started building a structure consisting of two apartments (70 m² for each), I was going to live alone in one of the apartments, and my brother and his family of 5 were going to live in the other (3 of them are children).

During the construction, Staffs from the occupation municipality showed up , took pictures of the structure , halted construction work , and issued a demolition notice , in case we refuse to demolish the structure , the occupation forces will implement the operation and make us pay the demolition costs (about 20,000 $ or 70000 shekels) . However, we decided to carry out the demolition to avoid paying the fine ,  as we already lost about 170 thousand for the construction of the structure.”

Since the beginning of this year, the occupation authorities forced tens of Jerusalemites to demolish their own houses, and took advantage of the Corona lockdown and closure of Human Rights and Legal Aid institutions to implement their arbitrary policies.

Remark:

The self or silent demolition causes great pain and feelings of oppression. When the Israeli occupation carries out a demolition operation, the family gets more united in the face of injustice, especially children who become aware of the reality of the occupation. But when the father carries out the demolition, children become confused and view their caretaker as weak and helpless. This may lead to fragmentations, clashes and instability within the family, and children might suffer psychologically and lose trust in the family, society and future. Let alone the loss of money and efforts on the part of the breadwinner and the family.

What does the Israeli occupation do if a Palestinian owner does not demolish his residence by himself?

• The Israeli occupation demolishes the residence without any prior warning and usually at the early hours of the day.
• The occupation sets perimeters around the targeted area and invades it with armed forces. It also imposes curfew on the residents of the neighborhood until the task is complete.
• The Israeli occupation forces use tear gas canisters and rubber-coated bullets against masses or people who try to get near them.
• While driving bulldozers, soldiers try to inflict as much damage as possible not only on the targeted house but also on nearby structures.

During the demolition, the Israeli occupation does the following:

• Hire a demolition contractor and workers to evacuate residents.
• Assign a military force, often with detection dogs, to accompany and guard the contractor.
• Carry out content and furniture that workers often deliberately destroy during evacuation.
• Attack people who get near the building, even the owners themselves, by unleashing sniffer dogs.
• Beat a member of the family as it is usually the case. In response to people's anger or protestation, the Israeli occupation forces hit or detain some.
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• Present the family with demolition bills that include the following:
• Wages of the contractor and workers
• Safeguard expenses
• Expenses of renting detection dogs
• Risk costs
• Fines in case the owner does not remove the wreckage of his house within 48 hours.
• Fines if the owner does not comply with the municipality's order and fails to demolish his residence by himself
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LRC field observers kept a close eye on the matter and recorded 176 cases where the owners had to demolish their property by themselves during the past seven years (2010 -2019) making 1022 civilian citizens, more than 537 of whom are children, homeless and lacking security and stability.

Protecting marginalized communities in Jerusalem through legal support and advocacy

This report was prepared with EU funding, the contents of this document do not reflect positions of the European Union