JERUSALEM, A Palestinian family from the occupied Jerusalem neighborhood of Beit Hanina embarked today on demolishing three homes of their own after they were forced to do so by Israeli municipality, according to local sources.
Members of the Dallal family said they were forced to demolish their own homes after the Israeli municipality issued a demolition order against them under the pretext they were built without a permit, and in order to avoid paying unreasonable demolition costs to the Israeli municipality in the event it carried out the demolition.
The three homes were the only housing available to 13 family members from the Dallal family, mainly children and women.
Owners of the homes said that over the past years, they had spent thousands of dollars trying to get a building license but only in vain, given the Israeli authorities’ unreasonable conditions that make it nearly impossible to get a permit.
Palestinians in Jerusalem say they are forced to build without a permit because getting a building permit is impossible as the right-wing mayor and city council attempt to keep the city’s Palestinian population at a bare minimum while multiplying its Jewish residents by approving the construction of thousands of new housing units in Jewish settlements.
Almost 75 percent of applications for a permit by the Palestinian citizens of Jerusalem are rejected by the municipality, according to rights groups.
Source: Palestinian News & Info Agency