Land Research Center

Citizen Sultan Bashir from “Jabal Al-Mukabir” south Jerusalem was forced to demolish his own house by the occupation municipality, on the pretext of building without licenses.

Tuesday , October 22,2019 , Sultan Bashir brought a bulldozer to demolish his own house , which was constructed for his 8 family members (6 children).

Sultan Bashir told LRC reporter:

“About 1 year ago I constructed a residence with an area of 50 m² , built of bricks , woods and zinc and consists of one floor , I moved to the residence with my family and children . The house is adjacent to a colonial street which put it under demolition sword.

Bashir asserted:

4 months ago , a vehicle from the occupation municipality showed up , and served me a demolition order on the pretext of building without licenses from the occupation authorities, and despite the fact that the house has a small area , the occupation municipality insisted to demolish it, and imposed very difficult conditions for licensing.”.

In case the occupation municipality carried out the demolition operation, the owner must pay the costs of the demolition. Thus, Bashir decided to demolish his own house to reduce his loss.

Like all other neighborhoods in Jabal Al-Mukabir, Bashir’s neighborhood is neglected and most of its lands were confiscated for colonial expansion and streets , and a big part of the village lands are green areas were construction Is prohibited, while the rest of the village lands require licenses from the occupation for construction.

On the other hand, Israeli settlements are expanding rapidly , and wide streets are being opened, and lands are confiscated from its real owners (the indigenous people of Palestine) to be used in providing entertainment places for  illegal Israeli settlers.

About Jabal Al Mukabbir [1]:

5 kilometers south Jerusalem city , Jabal Al Mukabbir is surrounded by Silwan (north, Ath Thuri (west) , Abu Dis and As-Sawahra Ash- Sharqiya (east) , As-Sawahra Al-Gharbiya (south).

Jabal Mukabbir and As-Sawahra Al-Gharbiya together have a total population of (21, 127 ) people in 2012 census-The  Jerusalem academy of Israeli Studies-, Jabal Al Mukabbir has an area of 3,281 dunums , 682,7 of them are the towns built uo area.

-Israeli settlements devoured 300 dunums of the town's lands:

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.

According to the field visits conducted by Land Research Center, the occupation municipality forced the owners of 100 residences to self-demolish their structures during the past ten year. As a result, more than 848 citizens, 455 of whom are children became homeless.

The following table provides numbers of houses demolished by their owners in occupied Jerusalem (2010-2018):

Source: Firsthand field observation- Israeli violations monitoring section- LRC , Arab Studies Society.

The Bar graph shows number of self-demolished houses in east Jerusalem   according to years (2010-2018)

[1] GIS-LRC