Contact Us

Israel steps up demolitions of Palestinian-owned homes in Jerusalem

"They don't want a single Palestinian in all of Jerusalem," Ratib Matar said. Uphill, in the heart of his neighborhood, Israeli flags fluttered from dozens of apartments recently built for religious Jews. Now homeless, Palestinian Matar and his family are staying with relatives. He vows to build again on land he inherited from his grandparents, though he has no faith in the Israeli legal system.

  • 11
  • 16
While there are no reliable figures for permit approvals, the Israeli municipality set aside just over 7% of its 21,000 housing plans for Palestinian homes in 2019, reported Ir Amim, an anti-settlement advocacy group. Palestinians are nearly 40% of the city's roughly 1 million people. "This is the purpose of this policy," said Aviv Tatarsky, a researcher at Ir Amim. "Palestinians are forced to leave Jerusalem."