June 30, 2021: Israel on Tuesday demolished a Palestinian shop in Silwan, a suburb of East Jerusalem, sparking a scuffle between police and protesters who accused authorities of discriminating building permits enforcement in the holy city.
Palestinians search for East Jerusalem, which Israel captured in the 1967 war for a future state. Israel considers all of Jerusalem as its capital – a status not internationally recognized and has encouraged Jewish settlements, especially in the Palestinian territories.
A bulldozer driven by Israeli police ransacked Harbi Rajabi’s butcher shop in the neighborhood, overlooking Islam’s third holiest mosque and the most sensitive site in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the Al-Aqsa Mosque. The shop is one of at least eight properties residents said they had decided to demolish. Residents say they have been around for decades, even before 1967. Mahmoud Basit, who runs the butchers, told Reuters that 14 families depended on it for income. “We have no other way to support our families,” Basit said, adding that they would have to find new work from the beginning.
Deputy Jerusalem Mayor Arieh King said “around 20” buildings in Silwan – which Israel refers to by its Hebrew name Shiloach – had received demolition orders. Around another 60 buildings there were in violation of Israeli zoning laws, he told Reuters.
Palestinians in Silwan say it is almost impossible to get building permits. They see the demolition as if it was made to drive them out of Jerusalem. Disagreeing, King said the municipality had approved hundreds of new Palestinian homes in Silwan. Palestinian medical experts say 13 people were injured in Tuesday’s clash in Silwan. Police said two officers were injured in the stoning and three others were arrested on charges of indecency and misconduct.
The municipality had given the Palestinians until June 28 to dismantle the structure itself. King said the ground would be cleared to make way for parks and public buildings, adding that Silwan’s biblical links have made it “an important historical site.”
Nader Abu Diab, who also received a demolition order, lives in fear of the knock on the door from municipal inspectors.
“My grandchildren ask me questions and I can’t answer them. They’re children. What can I tell them? That they’re going to demolish our home?” Abu Diab, 55, said.
His brother, Fakhri Abu Diab said he applied seven times for an Israeli permit to expand his home in Silwan “but it was always rejected”. He added that over a hundred Palestinians could become homeless if the current round of demolitions continues.
The future of another East Jerusalem neighbourhood, Sheikh Jarrah, was one of the flashpoints at the heart of fighting between Israel and Palestinian militants last month.
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