APAwire - APAwire CLIENTS ONLY, Jeruslaem , 02 July 2021. Palestinian Muslims perform Friday noon prayers in the predominantly Arab neighbourhood of Silwan, just outside the Old City in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem.

1. 0.1 SOUNDBITE (in Arabic) Nizam Abu Romoz

STORYLINE

On June 7, the Jerusalem municipality issued a series of demolition orders to residents of the al-Bustan area in Silwan.

The 13 families affected, consisting of some 130 people, were given 21 days to evacuate and demolish their houses themselves. Failure to do so would mean the municipality would destroy the houses and families would have to cover the demolition costs – an estimated $6,000.

“This is how it works in occupied East Jerusalem,” said Fawcett. “Families are given a 21-day order which says either demolish your own home once this order has lapsed, or we will do it and then charge you a fine for the trouble of having to demolish your home.”

Since 2005, residents of al-Bustan have received warnings to demolish nearly 90 homes under the pretext of building without a permit, in favour of an Israeli settler organisation that seeks to turn the land into a national park and link it to the archaeological City of David area.

According to Grassroots Jerusalem, a Palestinian NGO, both home demolitions and court-ordered forced displacements are tactics used to expel Palestinian residents.

In a statement earlier this month, Palestinian rights organisation Al-Haq said Palestinians in East Jerusalem make up the majority of the population, but “Israeli zoning laws have allocated 35 percent of the land area for the construction of illegal settlements by Israeli settlers”.

Another 52 percent of the land area has been “allocated as ‘green areas’ and ‘unplanned areas’ in which construction is prohibited”, it said.

Silwan is located to the south of Jerusalem’s Old City, adjacent to its walls.

At least 33,000 Palestinians live in the neighbourhood, which has been targeted by Israeli settler organisations for years. In some cases, Palestinian residents have been forced to share homes with settlers.

Some of these Palestinian families have been living in Silwan for more than 50 years since they were displaced from the Old City in the 1960s.

In 2001, Ateret Cohanim, an Israeli settler organisation that aims to acquire land and increase the Jewish presence in East Jerusalem, took control of a historic Jewish land trust.

Established in the 19th century, the trust bought land in the area to relocate Yemeni Jews at the time. The settler organisation has claimed in court the trust it controls owns the land.

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