6 April 2009
On the morning of 6 April, about 150 Israeli soldiers, police & border police came and woke up the 22 members of the Al-Fakhouri family in the Burj Al-Laqlaq neighborhood. The Israeli forces blocked all the entrance roads to the house and occupied three rooftops threatening to arrest anyone who got near the house being demolished.
Around 30 workers destroyed the house in a process taking about 5 hours. The workers left concrete rubble and other debris in the surrounding street. The family was told that for everyday the rubble was left in the streets, the family would be charged 600 shekels on top of paying for the demolition itself.
The family found a demolition order on their door only 2 days prior to the demolition, on Thursday 2nd of April. On the 5th of April, Israeli police showed up at the house around 3PM with another demotion order and told the family to contact a lawyer.
The house was demolished three years ago and the family started rebuilding one and half years before the latest demolition. Due to the limited amount of space and crowded conditions one father in the family had to move with his children because they got sick.
The land and house has been in possession of the Al-Fakhouri family for over 100 years.
The demolition of the Al-Fakhouri home is part of the Israeli ethnic cleansing of occupied East Jerusalem. Over 100 other homes are slated for demolition, which will leave thousands homeless.