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Tuesday
Nov302021

Over 100 Palestinian Families in East Jerusalem Face Demolition of Their Homes

https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-over-100-families-in-east-jerusalem-face-demolition-of-their-homes-1.10426200

A building slated for demolition in Jerusalem’s A-Tur neighborhood.Credit: Emil Salman

More than 100 Palestinian families in East Jerusalem are in immediate danger of having their homes demolished after the Jerusalem municipality hardened its stance on master plans for the area.

A large clinic and hundreds of other buildings are also at risk of demolition in the near future.

There are currently some 20,000 illegal buildings in East Jerusalem, and demolition orders have been issued against thousands of them. Most were built illegally because the city’s Palestinian neighborhoods have no master plans that would enable legal construction.

Note from Comments by Ben Alofs

Ben Alofs

22:10
Israel's demographic policy in Jerusalem since 1967 (70% Jews and 30% Palestinian Arabs) governs the discrimination against the Palestinians. From 1967 to 2017 government initiated construction saw more than 55.000 units built for Israeli Jews in East-Jerusalem, but only 600 units for Palestinians. 
Between 1991 and 2018 9536 units were approved for Palestinians in East-Jerusalem (38% of the population) and 21834 units for Israeli Jews (24% of the population) in East-Jerusalem. Almost all Palestinian construction in East-Jerusalem is the result of private initiatives by families. As opposed to Jewish Israelis in East-Jerusalem the Palestinians have to bear the (very expensive) costs for planning and submitting applications for building permits. They bend over backwards to try and obtain legal planning, but are obstructed and thwarted at every step of the way, particularly when it involves planning on any significant scale.

 

 

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