Israel to demolish 2 houses in east Jerusalem

The all-Israeli West Jerusalem municipality Monday notified two Palestinian families of its intention to demolish their houses in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan under the pretext they were built without permit, according to the owners.Mohammad Bardawil, one of the owners, told WAFA that staff from the municipality handed him a notice to demolish his three-story house, which was built in 1999 and houses 22 people.He said he tried to obtain a building permit for many years without success.Mahdi Abu Nijmeh, owner of the second house slated for demolition, said the municipality staff posted on a nearby house a notice to demolish his 75-square-meter house, which was built almost 40 years ago and houses around five peoples.Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem, which Israel occupied in 1967, maintain that the municipality puts impossible conditions to get a building permit as a policy to reduce the number of Palestinian Arabs who live in the city forcing residents to build without permit and bear the heavy consequences.At the same time, it builds thousands of housing units for Israelis only in settlements in and around the city on land expropriated from its Palestinian owners.