Land Research Center

The Occupation Municipality, the Department of Antiquities, and settlers in the Old City Municipality of Jerusalem forced Othman Qaljawi from Bab Hatta neighborhood in the Old City of Jerusalem to demolish part of his house, consisting of a room, a bathroom, and a salon, for settlement reasons, as the Ateret Cohanim Association is trying to seize a piece of land owned by the family. With an area of about 200 square meters and located behind the house.

Photos (1-3) show the place of demolition, which is carried out by the owner

The citizen was given a period until the end of August to finish the demolition process in the place, and to evacuate it, knowing that he and his family of eight members, including 6 children and five females, live in this part of the house consisting of a room, a bathroom and a salon, with an area not exceeding 60 m² and built in 2015 at a cost of about 80,000 shekels (about 25 thousand US dollars).

Regarding the plot of land, Al-Qaljawi said that the settlement association Ateret Cohanim, which specializes in confiscating and leaking land and housing in Jerusalem, has been targeting it for a long time and trying to seize a plot of land located behind the house with an area of about 200 m², owned by the citizen for more than 200 years, and the settlement association claims that it had purchased this piece from a Russian person in the name of (Anthony Alex) who is in America, and since Mr. Othman Qaljawi is facing the courts, the selling documents were presented to him, and he confirms that these documents were forged and absolutely incorrect. This is in addition to the daily espionage and harassment practiced by the occupation forces against the citizen and his family.

Pictures (4-5) show the plot of land that Ateret Cohanim Association is trying to seize

As for the reason for the municipality forcing the citizen to demolish, it is to create a road that reaches the plot of land, which can only happen through the existing building site, which is owned by Othman Qaljawi and overlooks the lower alley of Bab Hatta neighborhood. In the event that the municipality manages to complete the demolition process and seize the plot of land, it will create a settlement outpost in the heart of Bab Hatta neighborhood, depriving the homeowner of the freedom to live and life in his home and neighborhood, and he and his family will be forced to return to live in a small room in which the least features of a decent life are lacking.

Legal Feedback:

The demolition of Palestinian homes and facilities by the occupation authorities comes within its violations of international and humanitarian law, and a violation of a right of Palestinian citizens guaranteed by international law and international treaties, which is the right to adequate housing, within the following articles:

• Article 147 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which states that “extensive destruction and appropriation of property, not justified by military necessity and carried out unlawfully and wantonly” is a “grave breach” of the Convention”.
• Article 53 of the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1948 “prohibits any destruction by the Occupying Power of real or personal property belonging individually or collectively to private persons, or to the State, or to other public authorities, or to social or cooperative organizations, is prohibited, except where such destruction is rendered absolutely necessary by military operations”.
• Article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention states:
• No protected person may be punished for an offence he or she has not personally committed.
• Collective penalties and likewise all measures of intimidation or of.
• Paragraph 'G' of Article 23 of The Hague Convention of 1907 warns against “the destroy or seize the enemy's property, unless such destruction or seizure be imperatively demanded by the necessities of war”.
• Article 17 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, dated December 10, 1948, states that “Everyone has the right to own property alone as well as in association with others”.

Bab Huta:

Bab Hitta neighborhood, one of the Islamic Quarter lanes in the Old City of Jerusalem. It is one of the entrances to the Al-Aqsa Mosque and contains relics from the Ayyubid period, as well as the authority established by Salah al-Din al-Ayyubi as a scientific complex that graduated many scholars in Jerusalem. Bab Hutta is one of the oldest gates of Al-Aqsa Mosque. It is located on its northern wall between Bab Al-Asbat and Faisal. It was renewed during the Ayyubid period, during the time of Sultan King Sharaf Al-Din Issa in 1220.

The neighborhood, like other neighborhoods in the Old City, suffers from attempts to Judaize, including demolishing and leaking real estate on a regular basis, in order to empty the Old City of its residents, and to give it a new Jewish character, completely stripped of its Palestinian history.

Ateret Cohanim Association:

 Ateret Cohenim, which literally means crown of the priests, is an Israeli settlement association that works to create a Jewish majority in the Old City and Palestinian neighborhoods in East Jerusalem. it owns a yeshiva in the Muslim Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem.

The number of settlers who live in the houses that Ateret Cohanim seized in the Old City since its establishment in 1978 is estimated at one thousand settlers. In the last two decades, the association’s activity has also focused in Silwan, in alliance with the Elad Association. American businessman Irving Moskowitz and his wife are among the most prominent donors to the association.

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