Violation: Forcing Dweik family to demolish their house.

Date: September 7^th 2021.

Location: Al-Bustan neighborhood – Silwan town / Occupied Jerusalem.

Perpetrators: The Occupation municipality in Jerusalem.

Victims: Dweik family.

Description:

Ad-Dweik family members were forced to demolish their house in their own hands complying to the Occupation’s municipality threats to demolish the house and impose a high fine on the owner as (demolition expenses).

Reportedly, September 7^th 2021 , Dweik family brough electric and hand tools to implement the demolition , which received a demolition notice 20 days ago.

The Occupation’s municipality in Jerusalem claims that the house was built without a license. Noteworthy, the house was built in 2017, with a total area of 80 m², and inhabited by a family of 9 , 7 of them are children (the oldest is 16 , while the youngest is 2).

One of the family members, Omar Dweik (14) said: “They forced us to demolish our own rooms , and the house where we play and study, now we are destroying in our own hands to avoid paying a high fine to the occupation.”

The family was left homeless after the demolition.

تعقيب

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.

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.

Al-Bustan Neighborhood:

A part from Silwan town, Al-Bustan neighborhood is located to the east of three valleys (Hilweh, Ar-Rababa and Ayoub) and to the west of the Silwan Slop. Al-Bustan is the bearer of many springs including: Umm Ad-Daraj, Berkat Silwan, Al-Birka At-Tihta , Ayoub well and Al-Louza spring. Al-Bustan area covers 70 dunums and is the home of 1550 Jerusalemites.

The Silwan town is heavily targeted by colonial institutions, that is trying to empty the area in every possible way in order to Judaize and control the location that overviews Al-Aqsa Mosque from the south.

Self-Demolition in Jerusalem in numbers:

According to the field visits conducted by Land Research Center, the occupation municipality forced the owners of 246 residences to self-demolish their structures during the past ten year, under threat to demolish their structure and impose an expensive fine on them as demolition costs. As a result, more than 1332 citizens, 670 of whom are children became homeless.