Violation: Forcing a citizen to demolish his own house in Beit Hanina.

Date: August 4^th 2020.

Location: Al-Ashqariya neighborhood – Beit Hanina town / Jerusalem.

Perpetrators: The Occupation municipality – Jerusalem.

Victims: Citizen Mohammed Alloun.

Description:

The Occupation municipality in Jerusalem forced Mohammed Alloun to demolish his own house on the pretext of building without licenses.

Alloun lives in Al-Ashqariya neighborhood in Beit Hanina north occupied Jerusalem , the targeted house was built in 2012 , with a total area of 90 m² , and inhabited by a family of 6 , 4 of them are children.

Affected citizen told LRC:

“This house was built 8 years ago of bricks and cement, I have lived in it all this time with my family.

The Occupation authorities gave us a demolition order on the pretext of building without licenses, I tried since then in every possible way to get a license, but the occupation authorities refused under false pretenses.

Eight months ago , my brother Majdi Alloun was forced to demolish his own house on the pretext of building without licenses , which made us so anxious that we might face the same fate.

In next to no time the occupation forces gave us demolition notices and the deadline was the last day of Eid Al-Adha. Accordingly, we carried out the demolition to avoid the fine that might exceed 80,000 shekels (23,000 $) in case we breached the deadline, this made us wetness the worst Eid so far, after being thrown to the streets with our luggage.”.

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.

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.

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.

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.]

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