New forced displacement by Israeli occupation in Jerusalem’s Al-Bustan neighborhood

Palestinians in the Al-Bustan neighborhood in the town of Silwan, south of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, face the threat of forced displacement, as Palestinian media quoted a member of the Silwan Lands Defense Committee, Fakhri Abu Diab, as saying: The occupation forces had broken into dozens of houses in the neighborhood, and handed demolition orders to their people, noting that his house is among the houses threatened with demolition.

Abu Diab explained that the occupation exerts pressure on the people who represent the first line of defense of Al-Aqsa Mosque and intimidate them and discourage them from resisting it and defending the city of Jerusalem under the ongoing attack on Al-Aqsa in particular and the occupied city in general, indicating that the demolition orders fall within the framework of the occupation’s policy of collective punishment and ethnic cleansing to carry out its Judaization and settlement plans in Jerusalem through demolitions and forced displacement.

Abu Diab noted that the Al-Bustan neighborhood is one of the closest Jerusalem neighborhoods to Al-Aqsa and is only 300 meters from its southern wall, spanning 70 dunums, therefore the occupation attempts to displace its people and replace them with the settlers. The occupation plans to demolish the entire neighborhood date back to 2005, but its 1,500 inhabitants refuse to displace it. They will continue to struggle for their land and presence and will not allow the occupation to demolish their homes.

Abu Diab stressed that the occupation has, since 1967, demolished more than 5 thousand facilities and homes east of Jerusalem, displaced 39 thousand Jerusalemites, while issuing more than 22 thousand demolition orders, 7500 in the town of Silwan alone, calling on the international community to pressure the occupation authorities to stop the demolitions.

Amal Farhat