Two Jerusalem Families Forced To Demolish Their Buildings
Mar 15, 2021 – – IMEMC News
▻https://imemc.org/article/palestinian-family-forced-to-demolish-own-home-in-east-jerusalem
Two Palestinian families from occupied Jerusalem were forced to demolish their own buildings, late on Sunday at night, to avoid paying excessively high fines and fees after the City Council issued the demolition orders, allegedly for being built without permits.
The Wadi Hilweh Information Center in Silwan (Silwanic) said the two families, Hijazi and Abu Hussein, were forced to demolish two buildings; one was commercial and the second was residential, after the city threatened not only to impose excessively high fines and fees, but also to bill them for the destruction costs if it carries it out using its workers and equipment.
The two buildings are in Jabal al-Mokabber and Silwan towns, in Jerusalem.
Silwanic stated that Ahmad Hijazi built his home in the year 2014, and has been living in it along with his family since then, and added that the City Council imposed a 25.000 Shekels fine but continued to reject his permit applications despite various appeals with the District and the Central Courts.
It also said that resident Mohammad Abu Hussein had to demolish his restaurant, which was built twenty years ago on his own land, but the City Council decided to destroy it three years ago, in addition to imposing fines and fees.
The Palestinian managed to delay the demolition for several years, but a final ruling was issued forcing him to demolish his building or face the high fines and fees in addition to the demolition costs if the city uses its workers and equipment.