Reflecting steadfastness and defiance the Jerusalemites continue their daily sacrifices around the clock against the Israeli occupation’s settlement crimes and Judaization plans that are chasing and persecuting them in every town village and building in a bid to displace them.
Jerusalemites remain steadfast despite numerous ordeals such as demolition and confiscation of homes and exorbitant taxes imposed by the occupation authorities in addition to arrests deportations seizing hundreds of dunums and the building of new settlement units.
Steadfastness and determination
Um Zuhri al-Shweiki is one example of the suffering that hundreds of families are going through in Occupied Jerusalem. She is the mother of two martyrs Zuhri and Nizar al-Shweiki and the mother of a released prisoner who spent 5 years in the Israeli prisons.
Umm Zuhri’s suffering did not stop here as the occupation did not only kill her two sons Zuhri and Nizar but also is trying to confiscate her house in which she and her family lived most of their lives. The Israeli occupation authorities (IOA) notified Shweiki to evacuate the house no later than 12/20/2020.
Ten people are living in the house of Um Zuhri. She said “This is the house which cost us all of our savings to secure my life and my sons and daughters’ lives. We have memories in this house. I raised my children here and they got married here.”
However Um Zuhri is not discouraged by the occupation’s attempts as she says “We will not give the occupation a rest nor will we easily evacuate my house. This house is my whole life and I will not budge from it no matter what happens even if the house was demolished on our heads.”
Demolition policy
The occupation persists in implementing a policy of demolishing the homes of Jerusalemites to eliminate the Palestinian presence in the city and wipe out the Palestinian identity.
Jerusalem witnesses every month demolitions of citizens’ homes under the pretext of building without a permit. Nevertheless thousands of Palestinians submit requests to get a building permit but only 80 to 100 Jerusalemites receive these permits each year.
The IOA deliberately reduces the number of building permits granted to Palestinians in Jerusalem and the West Bank. In these areas the licensing application process extends for many years reaching 10 years or more and the permit may not be issued at all.
According to a periodic report issued by Hamas’s media office in West Bank the IOF committed 2050 violations against the Palestinians and their lands in the West Bank and Jerusalem during November 2020.
The IOA escalated the demolition of citizens’ homes in that same month. The number of homes demolished reached 34 compared to 16 houses in October in addition to dozens of homes whose residents were notified of demolition.
The number of destroyed properties including shops agricultural establishments and other facilities reached 138 and the number of confiscated properties reached 49 compared to 20 in October. These confiscations varied between confiscating equipment vehicles machinery building materials and tents according to the report.
