***image2***Occupation bulldozers arrived in Ein Lozeh in Silwan (Jerusalem) on the morning of January the 16th and attacked the house of Ahmed al Raziq. Al-Raziqâs modest property consisted of a single 75 square meter room. He had built a small structure above the entrance to the property in order to prevent the house from decaying. Occupation Forces used this as a pretext for demolishing his house, stating they had not given permission for the structure to be built on Ahmedâs property.
The contingent of Soldiers that arrived declared the area a âclosed military zoneâ, and forced Ahmed and his wife to leave. The local community was barred from the property and unable to assist the elderly couple as they were forced out of their home. Ahmedâs wife is 60 years old and suffers from cancer, while he suffers from breathing difficulties. They were forced to watch the house rendered inhabitable as the bulldozers moved in to demolish the crucial support for the house.
Zionist aggression in Silwan has escalated in recent years. The neighborhood, which lies immediately outside the walls of the Old City, saw two buildings containing 12 flats stormed by a gang of settlers in March 2004. In 2005, 122 properties were targeted by the Occupation for demolition, in order to facilitate settlement expansion throughout the area. Until now, 40 houses have been destroyed. Life inside the Palestinian capital is increasingly unbearable with entire communities and neighbourhoods being isolated, subjected to exorbitant taxes, and prohibited from building new houses. With 181 km of Apartheid Wall being constructed throughout the city, the pressures upon Palestinian life are creating a new Nakba in Jerusalem.
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