40 Jerusalemites displaced; Israel forced them to raze homes

Read Time: 2 minutes

Days of Palestine – Jerusalem

On Monday, the Israeli occupation authority displaced Jerusalemite families after forcing them to demolish their homes in Beit Hanina town, north of the holy city.

According to local sources, 40 individuals were rendered homeless after the Israeli municipality forced seven brothers of the Obaidi family to knock down their homes in the occupied holy city.

The seven families had to deploy a makeshift tent on the ruins of their homes, but they fear that the municipality may order the removal of the tent.

“I have been living here for 15 years, which means 15 years of suffering from the occupation government and a court session every two months,” Ali Obaidi, one of the brothers, said.

“We are seven brothers, and we have families numbering about 40 people, mostly children under age 16. We decided under duress to carry out the demolition measure with our own hands to not pay exorbitant money to the occupation municipality. Now we sleep outdoors in a tent,” Obaidi added.

Obaidi pointed out that the municipality already imposed on him and one of his brother’s tens of thousands of shekels in penalties for building the homes with no permits. The municipality could also fine his other brothers.

Most Jerusalemite citizens had to comply with such Israeli demolition orders to avoid paying excessive money to the Israeli occupation authority.

The Jerusalemites have no choice but to build without licenses because there are no structural maps that respond to the natural increase in their numbers, and for that reason, they are denied house permits.

The Israeli occupation authority also imposes building restrictions on the Palestinian natives in Jerusalem and makes it hard to obtain construction licenses.

Israel’s systematic demolition of Palestinian homes in Occupied Jerusalem is believed to be aimed at psychologically destroying the Jerusalemite families in an attempt to force them to move from the holy city.