Al-Bustan neighborhood: a fight against uprooting

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The Israeli occupation authorities demolished a commercial store in the Al-Bustan neighborhood in Silwan, Al-Quds (occupied Jerusalem), as part of its plan to demolish Palestinian homes there. This facility is one of 17 others threatened with demolition. 

⭕قوات الاحتلال تهدم محلاً تجارياً تعود ملكيته لعائلة الرجبي في حي البستان بسلوان في القدس. pic.twitter.com/vifmVUl45D

— إذاعة صوت الشعب - غزة (@shaabradio) June 29, 2021

Al Mayadeen reporter said that an Israeli military demolition vehicle and a bulldozer accompanied by a large number of soldiers advanced in the morning to the Al-Bustan neighborhood and carried out the barbaric demolition.

" المنشأة كانت ضمن 17 أمر هدم انتهت مهلتها... الاحتلال بدأ بتنفيذ قائمة الهدم".. عضو لجنة الدفاع عن أراضي سلوان، فخري أبو ذياب يتحدث عما جرى قبل قليل في حي البستان pic.twitter.com/kr9iPZ31Dy

— AlQastal القسطل (@AlQastalps) June 29, 2021

Meanwhile, the Silwan mosques called on the people to confront the occupation forces, which withdrew from the place after attacking the residents who tried to end the demolition. 

لحظة الاعتداء الوحشي على أهالي حي البستان في سلوان أثناء تنفيذ عملية هدم لمنشأة تجارية تعود للمواطن نضال الرجبي#FreePalestine#انقذوا_سلوان pic.twitter.com/sdI6d5BhYo

— Samar Mohammad 🇵🇸🇵🇸 (@samarmoh1177) June 29, 2021

Hussein Al-Sheikh, a member of the Central Committee of Fatah movement, warned that the Al-Bustan neighborhood is being subjected to a fierce occupation attack through acts of demolition, destruction, and displacement, demanding the international community to intervene immediately to halt this massacre, blaming the occupation for this major escalation.

عضو اللجنة المركزية لحركة فتح الوزير #حسين_الشيخ: "حي البستان يتعرض لهجمة احتلالية شرسة بالهدم والتدمير والتهجير، ونطالب المجتمع الدولي التدخل فورا لوقف هذه المجزرة بحق السكان المقدسيين وبيوتهم وممتلكاتهم، ونحمل إسرائيل مسؤولية هذا التصعيد الكبير". pic.twitter.com/CqQKZRp8hq

— وكالة ليوان الإخبارية (@liwanapp) June 29, 2021

Agencies and websites reported that large Israeli military forces were brought to the town of Silwan in Al-Quds and at the vicinity of the sit-in tent in the Al-Bustan neighborhood, accompanied by bulldozers and military vehicles, to demolish 13 Palestinian homes there.

The occupation authorities gave the neighborhood families a period of 21 days to demolish their homes by themselves. Otherwise, they will carry out the demolition process and impose the demolition cost on them.

Al-Bustan neighborhood extends over 70 dunums and is inhabited by 1,550 Palestinian Jerusalemites. Since 2005, the occupation authorities have been seeking to demolish it under the pretext of building a national park in its place. However, the neighborhood families and their Jerusalemites have engaged in confrontations with the occupation forces to prevent this.

86 families, totaling 725 members, fear the implementation of the occupation's decisions to evict them from their homes in favor of settlements forcibly.

In November 2004, the occupation municipality in Al-Quds decided to demolish the homes of Jerusalemites in the Al-Bustan neighborhood, citing a “lack of a building permit” as a pretext. Early on the following year, it began distributing demolition orders to the neighborhood residents, and during the same year, demolished the homes of two families.