Painting on a Semi-Demolished Home
with the I Witness Silwan project, we began a series of murals on a 3-story building in the neighborhood of Ayin a-Loza in Silwan that was demolished on May 10th of this year by the Jerusalem Municipality and that was home to 45 people and a healthcare clinic. it is most nearly impossible for Palestinians to receive building permits and so many structures are built without permits to accommodate natural population growth and regular necessary repairs (the latter of which also require permits to conduct 'legally according to the Israeli government').
the owner of the structure, Sameer Rajibi, attempted to file a number of plans to get his construction approved but all were rejected. according to Sameer's son Faris, the municipality came to the house in the morning, "broke the doors, expelled us and didn't let us take any belongings." he said that the demolitions that take place regularly on Palestinian homes is not a matter of legality but a political one - "they don't give us permits anyway, and this is a policy of dispossession and ethnic cleansing." according to the Palestine Red Crescent, five Palestinians including a journalist suffered injuries from Israeli police brutality when the demolition took place.
the Rajibi family placed a white flag on top of another structure that was attached to the one demolished - in the photos you can see the exposed walls, rubble and electric wires at the site. Sameer Rajibi, known locally as Abu Faris, said the white flag symbolizes to his fellow Silwani residents that he is not a collaborator - he did not destroy his own house nor pay for its destruction; he had no part in the demolition that took place. in September, he and his sons and all of their families that lived together at the location will face a court hearing on the remaining structure and they are unfortunately very likely to face displacement and dispossession yet again.
resources: first-hand meetings with the Rajibi family, and articles published in Haaretz and the Middle East Eye.