Silwan, occupied East Jerusalem – Sabah Bader, 57, has spent her life savings working as a chef in an apartment she can finally call her own, hoping for a sense of security for herself and her son.
But since she moved into a 13-unit building in the Palestinian neighborhood of Silwan, south of the Old City in East Jerusalem is occupiedFor the past 8 years, the single mother’s life is far from peaceful.
Bader and nearly 100 other Palestinians living in the same building were threatened by Israeli authorities to demolish and forcibly relocated.
The residents of the 13-unit building – at least half of which are minors – received a final Israeli demolition order on February 5, citing their building’s “lack of permits”. “.
A few days later, under international pressure, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that the demolition would be postponed indefinitely.
While the demolition of the building is delayed, the demolition order remains in effect and can be enforced at any time.
“Even if they destroy this building, I will pitch a tent and stay here. I’m no better than any of the people living in the camps – I’m going to be just like them,” Bader told Al Jazeera from her home.
Under Israel’s new right-wing government sworn in late last year, Israeli officials accelerated the demolition of Israeli-designated “illegal” Palestinian homes in occupied East Jerusalem, including in its vicinity. Silwan, Jabal al-Mukaber and Hizma.
These Israeli policies mean that at least a third of Palestinian homes in occupied East Jerusalem do not have Israeli-issued building permits, with more than 100,000 residents at risk of forced displacement, according to numbers data of the United Nations (UN).
Nearly 1,000 other Palestinians are facing being forced from their homes in lawsuits filed against them by Israeli settlement groups, many supported by the Israeli government.
recent escalation
On Monday, Israeli forces destroyed two homes of a father and his son from the Basheer family in Jabal al-Mukaber, sparking widespread confrontations with residents, including at least 30 Palestinians – including an Al Jazeera cameraman – were shot and wounded with rubber bands. – bulletproof.
Raed Basheer, an attorney for families in the neighborhood, said at least two people with live bullet injuries were also being treated at the hospital.
“This is the first time in many years that such a confrontation happened in Jabal al-Mukaber,” Basheer told Al Jazeera.
“What is happening is purely political – it’s a policy of sanctions and collective pressure, aimed at forcing the Palestinians in Jerusalem to relocate and intensifying the Judaization of the city,” he added.
Since the beginning of this year, the Israeli military has destroyed at least 47 Palestinian-built structures in Occupied East Jerusalem, including houses and uninhabited, shops and other structures. By February 7, at least 60 Palestinians had become homeless due to the destruction, according to the United Nations.
Bader, a retired chef in Silwan, says she “can’t” leave another home after struggling with high rents in the city for years.
“They want us to leave Jerusalem and leave the country by destroying our homes. I – Ameen Bader’s mother – said there was no way I was leaving this house. They can destroy it right above our heads – at least we will die as martyrs fighting for our country and our land.”
National and international NGOs and human rights groups have long pointed to a range of Israeli activities and policies in Jerusalem aimed at shifting demographic proportions in favor of Jews.
Israel did a military occupation and illegally annexed the eastern half of the city in 1967. Only 13% was planned for Palestinian development and residential construction, most of which was completed, the rest. under the control of the state of Israel and its settlers.
Forced relocation and transfer of populations occupied by the military is a violation of international law and a war crime.
Some 200,000 Israelis live in illegal settlements in occupied East Jerusalem, many built on private Palestinian land. They also live in Palestinian homes taken over by settlers with the help of the state.
On January 11, the Palestinian Authority (PA) said the demolition of homes in Jerusalem and the ‘Area C’ of the occupied West Bank was one of the “worst forms of ethnic cleansing that the Israeli government made”.
The PA said it “takes very seriously the Israeli government’s policy to intensify and escalate the destruction of Palestinian homes and facilities, in an effort to eliminate the Palestinian presence in Jerusalem and all the area is classified as “Area C” to allocate these areas. for illegal settlements.
From 1967 to 1995, more than 88% of housing construction in occupied East Jerusalem took place in illegal Israeli settlements supported by the government.
‘Their entire presence is unlicensed’
Due to the very high cost of housing and Israel’s restrictive policies, Bader – like thousands of other Palestinians – had to buy an apartment in an “unlicensed” building – hence cheaper -.
While an apartment in an Israeli-licensed building in occupied East Jerusalem costs around 1-1.5 million Israeli shekels ($284,000-425,000), unlicensed apartments range from 350-400,000. shekel ($99,000-113,000).
“Where do I get this money to buy an apartment in a licensed building? I studied to be a chef and I worked for 15 years,” says Bader.
“I have put all my savings into this house, and now it will be for nothing. And for what? For Israel? And because it’s an unlicensed building? All their construction is unlicensed! Their entire presence here is unlicensed!” she added.
Many of those who build unlicensed homes or buy “unlicensed” buildings do so with the hope and impression that their homes may eventually be taken over by the Israeli city government of Jerusalem.” Licensing”.
Residents in many areas develop their own land planning plans on their own, which they present to the municipality to challenge their demolition order, in the hope of their architectural works. added to the existing boundaries of each neighborhood, many of which have not been updated since the 1967 occupation.
In the end, they have to pay millions of dollars in monthly fines to Israel’s municipal government for violating living in an “unlicensed building,” and to lawyers and engineers to develop plans. alternative plan, but eventually their home was demolished.
For example, people in the Silwan building were told by the city government that they could get a building permit if they purchased an adjacent piece of land to be allocated for “public use” to the neighborhood. They had a week to do so in December.
The land surrounding the building is privately owned and is worth more than 1 million shekels ($284,000), which the building’s residents have to buy out of their own pocket.
“We applied for a permit – we have an engineer and a lawyer – and we submitted an organizational plan for the area, but we suffered for seven years,” said Arafat al. -Nabi, a 57-year-old resident of the building, told Al Jazeera.
“It is a war on our nerves. We don’t sleep, we don’t eat, we don’t leave the building,” he continued.
For al-Nabi and the rest of the inhabitants, Israel’s motive for destruction is clear.
“It was a forced shift. They wanted us to give up and move to the West Coast. The more they clear out the Palestinian population in Jerusalem, the more settlers they can bring in,” al-Nabi said.
However, he believes Palestinians “will always have hope” to stay in their homes. “We’ve been knocking door-to-door trying to solve this problem,” he said. “They cannot kill our hope.”
