The homes of the families of al-Salaymeh, Abdin, al-Rishq, Salimi, Zahida, Abu Asab and Wazuz, which shelter about a hundred Jerusalemites, are in danger of collapsing at any moment, through what the residents of the courtyard notice of serious cracks in the walls and floors of the buildings, rooms, bathrooms, floors, and staircases connecting these for homes.

This situation was described by Mrs. Nashat al-Salaymeh (Umm Nidal), one of the housewives in the courtyard. She spoke about the reasons behind the serious cracks that may cause the buildings to collapse in the future, either while owners there, or for the residents to be forced to abandon them because of the current situation.

Ms. Umm Nadal says that “the occupation municipality and its crews and the crews of the Gihon (Water) Company[1], about two years and two months ago (2019) dig deep under the buildings in Hosh al-Nairsat, with the aim of extending a network of water pipes that pass under the courtyard. Until the residents of the courtyard began to notice many cracks in their bedrooms, kitchens, and the walls of the buildings, in addition to a large explosion of water pipes in the courtyard, which aggravated the problem for the residents of the courtyard, which increased the suffering and fear for them, and that now the cracks have increased and increased every big day”. Note that the cracks have seriously harmed the homes, as the water level in the rooms rises in winter due to the uneven floors, and the doors do not open or close easily due to the tendency caused by the cracks and fissures, in addition to the removal of tiles off the floors of homes in the courtyard.

The municipality’s crews and the Gihon Company attended later to inspect the problem and the damage, but they did not give a substantive solution to what was happening, and the municipality only placed iron supports inside the corridors leading to the courtyard, in the stairwells, between the walls and in the ceilings of the rooms, and since then the municipality has not found any solution to the root of the problem, and the municipality holds the responsibility of the Gihon company, and the Gihon company also holds the problem municipality.

Umm Nadal expressed one of the solutions provided by the municipality to the residents of the courtyard, which is that the municipality “can move residents to other homes outside the courtyard and the town, pay rent requirements, and help move furniture and pay the costs”, but the residents of the courtyard completely and absolutely rejected this solution. Umm Nazal expressed this when she said, “They want to deport us under the pretext of repair, and we know that there are possible leaks of the houses to the settlers, but we here 70 years and more living in this courtyard and it is part of us and we are part of it. We will not leave, we will not accept, and we will remain in our homes, even if it collapses on us and our families”.

Mrs. Umm Nal, her husband, Mr. Tayseer, are aged and their daughter live in a 55-square-meter house in Al-Hosh. Her house consists of two rooms, a kitchen, a bathroom, a small yard, and a staircase that leads to the house from the hush to their small yard, and her house is adjacent to the homes of neighbors from all the families in the yard. The researcher noticed the presence of deep cracks in all the walls of the house, and iron supports that hold the ceilings of the house and extend on the floors, which hinders movement and forms part of the problem as well. Cracks and damages extend in the bathroom, where the bathroom tiles are seen dislodged in the vertical walls and floors, in addition to that, the levels of the floors of the house It varied, which formed an architectural defect in terms of water levels in the winter in particular, and the inability to close the doors of the rooms. This is in addition to the narrow staircase leading to the yard of the house, where the iron beams are piled up in the entrance.

All families in the courtyard suffer from the same danger and to the same degree of difficult limitations, whether in the discomfort of housing, or structural problems formed by cracks and damages, or dangers related to the threat of collapse at any moment, or abandoning the house due to the pressure of the municipality and its indifference to what the residents suffer. The families of Al-Salaymeh, Abdeen, Al-Rishq, Salimi, Zahida, Abu Asab and Wuzuz, which shelter about a hundred Jerusalemites, or about 22 families in about twenty houses, have been living in this suffering for more than two years, and some of them were forced to leave due to fear and psychological pressure, but most of those who leave return after a short period of time, fearing for his property and anxious to stay in the courtyard with his neighbors and relatives.

Hosh al-Nairsat, or originally Hosh al-Nashshibi, is located in the Bab al-Silsila neighborhood, about 50 meters away from Bab al-Silsila, one of the inner gates of the old town that leads to Al-Aqsa Mosque. Al-Nairsat is one of the many architectural elements in this neighborhood. The Nyersat courtyard, which was known in the past as Al-Nashashibi’s courtyard, is attributed to the Nashashibi family that inhabited it. the name was changed later during the British Mandate period and due to the large number of revolutions, then a group of nurses from this neighborhood took their headquarters to treat the wounded and sick. And it was also said that the first legal midwife in Jerusalem came out of this neighborhood, so it was called Hosh Al-Nirsat (meaning the nurses courtyard).

Gihon Company: It is an Israeli water and sewage company, which takes its name from the biblical Gihon spring as a symbol of the biblical history of the Jews in Palestine with a Zionist view. Israeli companies, which provide the best service to the settlers of Jerusalem, and oppress the Palestinian residents of Jerusalem, just like the municipality, if not part of it.

[1] Gihon Company: It is an Israeli water and wastewater company, which takes its name from the biblical Gihon spring as a symbol of the biblical history of the Jews in Palestine with a Zionist view. Israeli company, which provides the best service to the settlers of Jerusalem, oppress the Palestinian residents same as the municipality is, does.