This morning the Jerusalem municipality demolished three more houses in the Palestinian neighborhoods of Abu Tor and Beit Hanina and 40 people were displaced.

One of the houses in Abu-Tor was a 70 square meter house belonging to the Shuweiki family and was a home to 12 residents. The Father of the family fainted twice during the demolition, and was hospitalized. The second house in Abu-Tor was 80 square meter house home to the Al-Qawasmi family of 6 members.The two families received an order from the municipal representative to clear out all the rubble that used to be their home within a week or else they would receive a hefty fine. The third house that was demolished by the Jerusalem Municipality, measured 150 square meters and was located in the neighborhood of Beit Hanina. It was the home of the Rajaby family, providing shelter to 22 familiy members including at least ten children. The family received the demolition order only this morning, leaving the family with insufficient time to organise alternative housing opportunities or to remove all their belongings in time. Two people, the father and one of the sons, were arrested and 2 others were injured during the demolition. A forth house adjacent to the Shuweiki family house was damaged during the demolition.

After numerous incidents of home demolitions and evictions in East Jerusalem right before Ramadan and the Jewish High Holidays, the Municipality of Jerusalem has clearly reinstated its illegal policy of house demolitions in East Jerusalem. Today’s demolitions add up to at least 12 demolitions within the course of only 3 weeks, thereby clearly stating the Municipality’s discriminatory discourse.

We urge you to join us in making an end to these racist measures in order to achieve a sustainable and just peace. Please contact your parliamentarians and congressional representatives to demand their action on the issue. If you require any more information on house demolitions in East Jerusalem or ideas of how to get involved, please contact the ICAHD office.

http://www.icahd.org/eng/contact_ICAHD.asp