Violation: self-demolition.

Location: Basheer neighborhood – Jabal Al-Mukabir / Occupied Jerusalem.

Date: June 7^th 2021.

Perpetrators: The Israeli Ministry of Interior / Occupied Jerusalem.

Victims: Citizen Mohannad Basheer.

Description:

Monday, June 7^th 2021, Citizen Muhannad Basheer demolished his own house following a military order from the occupation municipality. Noteworthy, the occupation authorities request for 60,000 shekels (18,500 $) as demolition expenses in case the occupation forces carried out the demolition.

The house is in Basheer neighborhood in Jabal Al-Mukabir town south Jerusalem, and inhabited by citizen Mohannad and his family )5 members, 3 of them are children).

The building is 150 m² built of cement, and was completed few months ago early 2021, the house became appropriate to be resided by the family.

After the construction was completed, the occupation municipality summoned citizen Mohannad Basheer and requested 95,000 shekels fine on the pretext of building without a license, while the ministry of interior issued a demolition order for the building.

Basheer told LRC reporter:“When I received the notice, we emptied the building, dismantled windows and doors, took then furniture out then carried out the demolition, to avoid paying a high fine.”

People of Basheer neighborhood suffer from demolition operations since years, The municipality claims that the area needs an organizational plan, and to achieve that and organize the neighborhood many structures should be demolished, in addition to impossible conditions imposed to prohibit Palestinian from getting licenses in the occupied city of Jerusalem.

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

The Israeli occupation always justifies that type of demolition, which is a blatant contravention of the right to residence and a crime against humanity, on the pretext of unlicensed construction.

[If your house has been built without a building permit, then it is legal and you have to destroy it and remove the wreckage as soon as possible. You also have to take pictures of the destroyed structure and send them to the Inspection Department of the Planning and Construction Committee in the occupying municipality to verify the act. There is a fixed date regarding when you have to carry out the demolition operation and this is a red line you cannot cross. There is a second date set by the municipality court of local affairs to check if you have abided by the demolition order or not. In case you do not comply, the municipality will demolish your residence at your expense. If you cannot pay, you will be jailed, so the lesser of two evils becomes the self-demolition choice.]

LRC field observers kept a close eye on the matter and recorded 720 cases where the owners had to demolish their property by themselves during the past ten years (2010 -2020) making 1444 civilian citizens, more than 726 of whom are children, homeless and lacking security and stability. 94 cases were reported during the year 2020, a 140% increase in comparison to last year 2019.

The chart illustrates the residences that were demolished by their owners (self-demolition) during (2010-2020)

About Jabal Al Mukabbir:

5 kilometers south Jerusalem city , Jabal Al Mukabbir is surrounded by Silwan (north, Ath Thuri (west) , Abu Dis and As-Sawahra Ash- Sharqiya (east) , As-Sawahra Al-Gharbiya (south).

Jabal Mukabbir and As-Sawahra Al-Gharbiya together have a total population of (21, 127 ) people in 2012 census-The Jerusalem academy of Israeli Studies-, Jabal Al Mukabbir has an area of 3,281 dunums , 682,7 of them are the towns built uo area.

Israeli settlements devoured 300 dunums of the town's lands:

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