OCCUPIED JERUSALEM (Palestine Foundation Information Center) The Israeli occupation municipality of Jerusalem forced on Thursday the Jerusalemite Abu Zaid Awadallah to demolish his own home in the town of Sur Baher.
Abu Zaid Awadallah said in press statements, “The municipal court issued a decision a week ago, stipulating that my home will be demolished within 48 hours.”
He explained that he filed an appeal to postpone the demolition, but the municipal court refused and insisted on implementing the demolition decision on the specified date.
He further elaborated that he had earlier submitted a request to license the house, but the Jerusalem municipality asked him to pay 60,000 shekels within two days to obtain the house maps, in addition to imposing other unaffordable conditions on him to prevent the house from being licensed.
Awadallah added that he had to demolish the house because municipal employees threatened him that if he did not implement the self-demolition decision, he would be forced to pay 160,000 shekels for the costs of the demolition process.
He pointed out that he has been paying a construction fine to the Israeli occupation municipality for two years, amounting to 35,000 shekels, as he paid 8,000 shekels every time the demolition decision was postponed.
The Jerusalemite Abu Zaid Awadallah has been living in his house for 10 years, with his wife and four children, the oldest of whom is 22 years old and the youngest is 12.
The house is 75 square meters in area and consists of two rooms, a hall, a kitchen, and a bathroom, and is built of cement and reinforced iron.
