The Jerusalem Municipality decided to demolish five homes in Silwan Arab town, in occupied East Jerusalem, The Wadi Hilweh Information Center in Silwan reported.
The Center stated that, similar to previous orders and actual home demolitions, the new order aims at clearing the area so that Israel can implement its plan to build the “King Solomon Garden”.
It added that the army invaded Ein Al Lousa, Wad Yasoul, Wady Ar-Arababa, and Al-Bustan neighborhood in Silwan, in handed the orders to the owners of the homes in question.
Mousa Odah, member of the Al Bustan Committee in Silwan, stated that the Jerusalem Municipality should improve the quality of life in Silwan, should improve its infrastructure, investment and education instead of seeking to displace the residents in order to build a touristic area in place of their homes.
A resident of Al Bustan states that “Israel is demolishing Palestinian homes in the name of the prophets, that we all believe in, as if God the almighty became a realtor for settlers and the Jerusalem municipality”, the Wadi Hilweh Information Center said.
Several Israeli media outlets confirmed that Israel approved the construction of “King Solomon Garden” in Silwan, and that this implementation will lead to demolishing 22 Arab homes. The Garden will be an extension to the King David Settlement in Wadi Hilweh.
In related news, an Israeli court in Jerusalem sentenced on Monday Silwan resident Ghazi Kanaan, 36, to 13 years imprisonment after the prosecution claimed that he attempted to kill a Border Guard Policeman.
The court also ordered Canaan to pay the officer 7500 NIS for wounds suffered in Ras Amoud in Jerusalem in 2010; the court ruled that Canaan shot the officer in his arm.
Canaan was arrested 18 months ago; he is married to a woman that holds a Jordanian nationality and has four children; Israel stopped all family reunification papers for his wife.
Also on Monday, the District Court in Jerusalem sentenced Amer Al Abbasy, 18, from Silwan, to ten months imprisonment after convicting him of hurling Molotov cocktails at the army.
