Yesterday, 7 Aug. 2018, at about 8:00
A.M., Jerusalem Municipality personnel, accompanied by Border Police
officers and equipped with a bulldozer, came to the Shu’fat neighborhood
of East Jerusalem. The forces demolished the top story in a five-story
family home. The story included two housing units with an area of around
100 sq.m. each, which were completed approximately three months ago and
were intended for two young men from the family.
Several buildings were also demolished in the Jabal al-Mukabber
neighborhood yesterday. One family demolished by itself a housing unit
with an area of around 100 sq.m. it constructed some four months ago as
an additional story in its home, after the Municipality issued a
demolition order against the unit in April 2018. Municipality personnel
later came to the neighborhood, accompanied by Border Police officers
and equipped with a bulldozer, and demolished a storeroom and two
containers belonging to a supermarket that were installed in 2011, with a
total area of around 700 sq.m.
The Jerusalem Municipality deliberately avoids preparing detailed urban
building plans (UBPs), which are the only avenue for obtaining building
permits, for the Palestinian neighborhoods in East Jerusalem. The result
is a severe shortage of homes, public buildings, infrastructure and
leisure and commercial facilities. This has left the residents no choice
but to build without permits and risk demolition.