With a demolition order and a bulldozer, Israeli officers stormed the home of Jerusalem resident and activist Fakhri Abu Diab on the morning of February 14, 2024. Fakhri and his family were forcibly removed from the house in the al-Bustan area of Silwan where they had lived for generations. The building was razed, leaving the seven-member family homeless.
The demolition sent shockwaves through Silwan, where dozens of other homes face the same threat, putting one of East Jerusalem’s largest Palestinian communities at risk of mass displacement (see Prominent Palestinian Activist’s Home Bulldozed as Demolitions Spike in Jerusalem). While the municipality cites “illegal construction” on “public land” as justification, human rights organizations argue the policy is aimed at suppressing Palestinian development and facilitating the seizure of land for Israeli interests.
“These [demolitions] are done under the guise of law enforcement—as if it is a bureaucratic measure—but it is actually a form of state violence, and it serves as a mechanism of Palestinian displacement to drive them from the city,” Amy Cohen, the director of international relations and advocacy for the Israeli Jerusalem-focused NGO Ir Amim, told Al Jazeera at the time.1