Israeli occupation authorities forced today a Palestinian owner to self-demolish his own commercial store in the occupied Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan, citing unpermitted construction as a pretext for the unfair demolition order. Witnesses told WAFA that Nafez Zaytoun, the owner, demolished his own commercial store after being pressed into doing so by the all-Israeli municipality of Jerusalem. Zaytoun had no choice but to do so in order to avoid paying exorbitant fees to the Israeli municipality in the event that its crews carried out the demolition on their own. Under the pretext of building without a permit, which is almost never granted to Palestinians in the occupied city, the Israeli municipality has been demolishing or forcing Palestinians to demolish their homes in Jerusalem as part of a policy aimed to restrict Palestinian expansion in occupied Jerusalem. At the same time, the municipality and government facilitate the construction of tens of thousands of housing units in illegal settlements in East Jerusalem for Jewish settlers with the goal of offsetting the demographic balance in favor of the Jewish settlers in the occupied city. Although Palestinians in East Jerusalem, a part of the internationally recognized Palestinian Territory that has been subject to Israeli military occupation since 1967, they are denied their citizenship rights and are instead classified only as “residents” whose permits can be revoked if they move away from the city for more than a few years. They are also discriminated against in all aspects of life including housing, employment and services, and are unable to access services in the West Bank due to the construction of Israel’s separation wall.
Source: En – Palestine news & Information Agency – WAFA