Palestinian forced to self-demolish his home in Jerusalem’s town of Beit Safafa

JERUSALEM: Israeli occupation authorities on Sunday forced a Palestinian resident to self-demolish his home in the town of Beit Safafa, southeast of occupied Jerusalem. Local sources reported that the Israeli municipality of West Jerusalem forced Ahmad Elayan to demolish his house, under the pretext of being built without a permit. Under the pretext of building without a permit, which is rarely granted to Palestinians in the occupied city, the Israeli municipality has been demolishing or forcing Palestinians to demolish their own houses as part of a policy aimed at restricting Palestinian expansion and growth in occupied Jerusalem. Palestinians in East Jerusalem find themselves compelled to tear down their homes after receiving a demolition order to avoid paying exorbitant costs to the Israeli municipality if it carries out the demolition. Palestinians say they are forced to build without permits because the Israeli municipality discriminates against them and refuses to issue permits or places unreasonabl e conditions that they cannot afford to issue a permit. At the same time, thousands of housing units are built for colonists in the city on appropriated Palestinian lands and are made easily accessible to them. Source: Palestine News and Information Agency – WAFA