Palestinian families face demolition nightmare

The Jerusalem-based Jerusalemite Foundation for Community Development has confirmed Saturday that the Israeli occupation authority (IOA) had notified 32 Palestinian families to vacate their homes before next week.

According to a statement issued by the foundation on Saturday, large numbers of IOF troops accompanied employees of the Jewish administration of the Jerusalem municipality who posted the demolition notice at the entrance of a building in Beit Haneina suburb where 160 Palestinian individuals, half of which are  children live.

The foundation order added that “The demolition order, is set for next week, leaving the 32 families confused and despaired especially since all were former Palestinian refugees who had lost their homes in 1967 after the IOF troops occupied Jerusalem”.

“We don’t want to experience another exodus, we have experienced more than enough… we have no alternative homes to go to”, said Roudha Abu Snene, one of the residents in the building in reaction to the note.

“I feel I am lost after reading that notice because we would lose the only home my family and
I know of ,the Israelis have already imposed high taxes against me ten years ago which I am still paying off I don’t know what to do or where to go? I have bought this home with my own money I thought I would be settled and I would live in peace with my family here, but it seems that my dream is starting to vanish”, underlined Hamadah, 55, also a resident of the building.

However, the lawyer of the building has filed an appeal against the demolition order and filed a petition for a temporary restraining order till all legal and engineering procedures are completed, asserted Muath Al-Zatari, the head of the foundation.

Za’atari accused the IOA of exploiting the current Palestinian political rift to demolish as many Palestinian homes in Jerusalem as possible asserting that the IOA issued hundreds of demolition orders against Palestinian homes, and that it indeed executed the order demolishing 104 homes of over the past year.

He also shrugged off the allegations of the municipal mayor that the demolitions were meant to beautify the city, stressing that such statements were meant to ease international pressures against the IOA policies against the Palestinian people in the city.