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<a class="gmail-domain gmail-reader-domain" href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israel-palestine-jerusalem-silwan-raze-homes-destitute">middleeasteye.net</a>
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<h1 class="gmail-reader-title">Israeli forces raze Jerusalem homes, leaving 40 Palestinians destitute</h1>
<div class="gmail-credits gmail-reader-credits">By MEE staff - May 10, 2022<br></div>
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<p>Members of the Rajabi family are forced out of their homes and made to watch Israeli bulldozers levelling them</p>
<p><img src="https://www.middleeasteye.net/sites/default/files/styles/article_page/public/images-story/israel-palestine-silwan-demolition-may-2022-afp.jpg?itok=EeYNGzua" alt="Israeli machinery demolish the home of Palestinian family in the East Jerusalem neighbourhood of Silwan on 10 May 2022. (Afp)" class="gmail-moz-reader-block-img" style="margin-right: 0px;" width="460" height="259">
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<p>Israeli machinery demolishes the home of a Palestinian family in the East Jerusalem neighbourhood of Silwan on 10 May 2022 (AFP)</p>
<p><span>Published date:</span> 10 May 2022 15:38 UTC
<span>| </span>
<span>Last update:</span> <span id="gmail-date-updatedago">22 mins 52 secs </span> ago </p>
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<div><p>More than 40 <a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/countries/palestine" target="_blank">Palestinians</a> were made homeless on Tuesday after <a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/countries/israel" target="_blank">Israeli</a> forces razed their homes in <a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/topics/occupation" target="_blank">occupied</a> East Jerusalem.</p>
<p>Early in the morning, Israeli forces and bulldozers arrived at the <a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israel-palestine-silwan-explained-history-religion-exploited-displaced" target="_blank">Silwan town</a> and removed residents of a three-storey building owned by the Rajabi family ahead of its demolition.</p>
<p>Residents had little time to move their belongings, an eyewitness
told Middle East Eye, and were assaulted by police for resisting the
demolition along with neighbours who arrived at the scene to show
support. </p>
<p>At least five people sustained wounds from beatings in the Israeli
crackdown, with one transferred to the hospital, the Palestine Red
Crescent Society (PRSC) said. </p>
<p>Footage shared on social media by local activists and journalists
showed distraught members of the Rajabi family as they watched their
homes being knocked down. </p>
<p>"The family has lost everything," said Fakhri Abu Diab, the head of
the Silwan Lands Defence Committee who was present during the
demolition. </p>
<p>"They lost their past, their memories, their belongings and their home. They are now [living] in the open," Abu Diab told MEE. </p>
<blockquote>
<p>'[The family] lost their past, their memories, their belongings and their home. They are now in the open'</p>
<p>- <em>Fakhri Abu Diab, activist</em></p>
</blockquote>
<p>Israeli authorities had issued a demolition order against the house,
built in 2001 and owned by Osama Rajabi, under the pretext of a lack of a
building permit. </p>
<p>The building contained five residential units where Rajabi and his four sons lived with their families. </p>
<p>The family rejects the claim that the building was unauthorised,
saying they have been paying taxes to the municipality for over 20 years
like every other house in the city. </p>
<h3>Mass expulsions </h3>
<p>Hundreds of families in Silwan, located south of the al-Aqsa Mosque
in Jerusalem’s Old City, are facing the threat of expulsion by Israeli
authorities. </p>
<p>The strategic town spanning 6,540 dunums is home to more than 60,000 Palestinians. </p>
<p>Israel has grand plans for the area, intending to build a string of
tourist parks, themed around biblical stories and figures, in the
neighbourhoods of al-Bustan, Wadi al-Rababa, Batn al-Hawa and Wadi
Hilweh. </p>
<p>The municipality claims that around 100 houses in the al-Bustan
neighbourhood were illegally built and must be removed to clear the area
for a park under the name of "<a href="https://www.btselem.org/jerusalem/national_parks_al_bustan_garden_of_the_king" target="_blank">King’s Garden</a>". </p>
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<p><a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/video/silwan-jerusalem-soul-silent-war#autoplay" target="_blank"><img src="https://www.middleeasteye.net/sites/default/files/styles/read_more/public/video_thumbnails/220SdttKYnY.jpg?itok=B5OhX8WR" alt="" class="gmail-moz-reader-block-img" width="400" height="250"></a></p><p><font size="1">Silwan: A silent war for Jerusalem’s soul</font></p>
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<p>Israelis claim that the area was the site of the biblical garden of King David.</p>
<p>According to Abu Diab, there are more than 7,820 demolition orders -
between administrative and legal - in Silwan, putting thousands of
people at the risk of displacement. </p>
<p>Administrative demolition orders by Israeli authorities in the
occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem are often based on the grounds of
residents not having a building permit.</p>
<p>However, the Israeli government makes it virtually impossible for
Palestinians to get those permits, while at the same time announcing and
expanding settlements for its citizens.</p>
<p>Israel's control of East Jerusalem, including the Old City, violates
several principles under international law, which stipulates that an
occupying power has no sovereignty in the territory it occupies and
cannot make any permanent changes there. </p>
<p>"This demolition breaches international law because it took place in an area considered occupied," Abu Diab said. </p>
<p>"But where is international law? Where is the international community? We no longer trust them," he added. </p>
<p>"People have nothing to lose and [these violations] will push them to
react and the international community bears the responsibility for
it." </p>
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