Mohammed Mar'i Saudi Gazette RAMALLAH – The Jewish-dominated Jerusalem municipality Tuesday demolished a Palestinian home in East Jerusalem's neighborhoods of Silwan saying it was “illegally built.” Fakhri Abu Diab, the coordinator of the Committee for Defending Land in East Jerusalem, said that inspectors from the municipality accompanied by Israeli police and Border Guard officers demolished a three-story building owned by the Met'eb family claiming that the owner was not in possession of a valid construction license. He added that the building still not inhabited. Abu Diab said that the building is overlooking the Al-Aqsa Mosque Complex and the Jerusalem's Old City. He added that clashes erupted between the Palestinian owners and the Israeli security forces. No injuries on both sides were reported. The coordinator said that the demolition aims at “evicting thousands of Palestinians from the neighborhood and Jerusalem to Judaize it.” He called on Arab and Islamic countries “to intervene to stop the Israeli genocide against the Palestinians in Jerusalem.” The coordinator said that the Silwan's home is located only 250 meters from the Al-Bustan neighborhood. The Jerusalem municipality's planning committee approved a contentious plan to raze the 22 Palestinian homes in Al-Bustan to make room for a tourist center in the area. The center, which is called Al Bustan in Arabic and Gan Hamelekh (King's Garden) in Hebrew, is to include restaurants and boutique hotels. The plan has raised controversy in Israel and even protest from the US, Europe, the UN and the Palestinians. Palestinian statistics show that more than 2000 houses in East Jerusalem have been demolished since its occupation by Israel in 1967, and several hundreds are slated for demolition to Judize the city. According to various estimates, Jerusalem has some 20,000 unauthorized buildings, home to around 180,000 people. The demolition of each house requires considerable legal efforts and a heavy police presence, amid fears that protests by residents and housing activists can escalate into riots. The policy of house demolitions and settlement building in East Jerusalem are being used by the Israeli authorities and Jerusalem municipality to increase Jewish presence and manipulate the composition of the population in order to gain more control over the city prior to final status talks with the Palestinian Authority. Israel captured East Jerusalem in the June 1967 War, annexed it, and has since built settlements there that are home to more than 200,000 Israelis. Control over the city has been seen as the most sensitive and thorniest issue of Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Palestinians hope to make East Jerusalem the capital of their future state but the Israel says the city is its eternal capital.
