The occupation and municipal forces, accompanied by bulldozers and military forces, stormed Ain al-Lawzeh in Silwan on Tuesday morning, May 10, 2022. They demolished the three-store building of Sami Khader Rajabi, under the pretext of buikding without a permit. The demolition was accompanied by attacks on the owners of the house and the neighbors.

The municipality and the central court did not give the owner of the building any time to empty the house, with an area of 200 square meters, consisting of three floors, which contains five apartments, and each apartment has two rooms, a kitchen, a bathroom, and a balcony. It includes five families, with a total of 31 people, including 15 children and 19 females. This is in addition to 3 stores on the first floor, which were used as shops to support the five families financially.

Sami Khader Al-Rajabi told the Land Research Center researcher that “the building was built in 2010 at a cost of about two million shekels, about 650,000 US dollars”. This house is targeted by the municipality as part of a Judaization project in Silwan village to the south of the old city, as the demolition was carried out without warning. It is noteworthy that the five families now live on the ruins of the house and near it, knowing that the families were not able to remove any furniture to help them in this state of displacement. Al-Rajbi added, “The honor of Rabat in Jerusalem is enough for me. We will try to find houses for rent, but the size of the family does not make it possible to find a suitable place”.

About Silwan[1]

Silwan is located to the southeast of the walls of the city of Jerusalem, and it is considered the natural extension of the Old City. Silwan faces many dangers that threaten all its residents. Judaization projects deeply affect the demographic structure of the village, through archaeological excavations, the purchase and leakage of citizens’ properties, or operations The lack of space and the high costs that the town imposes on the residents of the village if they try to expand, in addition to transforming the village into a densely populated camp, with no outlet or room for horizontal or vertical urban expansion. Palestinian Silwan. The municipality threatens the demolition of hundreds of homes in an organized process of Judaization the Silwan area, especially Ain Al-Loza, Al-Bustan and Ain Hilweh which is taking place these days.

This report was published as part of Project activities: 

“Supporting Marginalized Communities in Jerusalem through Legal Aid and advocacy" 

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this report are those of Land Research Center and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of the project donor; the EU

إخلاء المسؤولية: الآراء ووجهات النظر الواردة في هذا التقرير هي آراء ووجهات نظر مركز أبحاث الأراضي ولا تعكس بالضرورة وجهات نظر أو مواقف الجهة المانحة للمشروع؛ الاتحاد الاوروبي