The Municipality of Jerusalem intends to demolish an entire East Jerusalem neighborhood (88 homes housing 1000 residents) in the el-Bustan area of Silwan village in East Jerusalem , close to the walls of the Old City. The operation, the largest demolition of Palestinian homes in Jerusalem since 1967, is code-named “The Cherry in the Crown." The earliest houses in the neighborhood date from the 1940s and '50s, though most were built in the 1980s and early '90s on private land belonging to Silwan villagers. Some of the houses in this area were built before 1967 and another portion were built in the 1970's. The first forty houses have already received demolition orders.
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