Video: The stories of the residents of the Al-Tur building, which is threatened with demolition - Part One
A state of anticipation, caution, sadness, pain, heartbreak, and tears are hiding here in the village of Al-Tur in Jerusalem, specifically in this building...
A thousand questions and questions hang over the features of its inhabitants.
10 apartments housing about 75 people, half of them children, and each family has a story...
And if the stories seemed similar in their disappointment, tragedy, and difficult way to owning a house...
However, the occupation municipality decided to take it from them, so that the families face the risk of homelessness without any shelter.
The 14th of this month is the date of a new session to discuss the request of a resident of not being informed of the demolition decision.
Lawyer Medhat Deebeh
We found a way to do something in the file and stop the demolition order, God willing. It is an attempt and, God willing, we will succeed in it, especially since the demolition order was issued in ambiguity regarding some apartments. The demolition order was imposed on the building in general, but in the details of the indictment there are people who live in this building and they have not received any notification that their building or residence will be demolished through a court decision "Municipality Affairs".
I have now obtained a special power of attorney from Mr. Mustafa Abu Sbitan, "who is the owner of the apartment", which was not affected by the demolition decision. We are in the process of submitting an urgent precautionary request to the Municipal Affairs Court to stop the demolition procedures, especially since the apartment is located on the fifth floor and it is not possible to demolish a building in which there is an apartment that is not included in the demolition order.
The Abu al-Halawa family has lived here for nine years.
The contents of her house are in boxes, and the walls are empty except for balloons carrying the numbers of the ages of Elia and Mariam after celebrating their birthday, which may be the last in this house...
Maysar is worried about being homeless in the winter, and having to live in the bitter cold without walls to warm her three children, Mariam, who takes care of the house plants in the hope that they will grow up with her here, and Julia who takes care of birds, while Elia is the youngest among them, 5 years old, having an argument older than her age with her mother...
The Jews ruined everything.
Maysar Abu al-Halawa
I can't imagine that my house will collapse and my mind can't comprehend this thing. I swear I will miss the street, so how about my house where I lived for 9 years. Today, I hugged the walls of my house and started crying. I worked hard to build this home.
We are people who struggle and work hard. Life in Jerusalem is not simple. I love my home. How I raised my daughter for 10 years. This is my home. Every corner is precious to me; every wall is precious.
Maryam Abu al-Halawa
We emptied the house and started sleeping on the mattress because the Jews wanted to demolish our house
Julia Abu al-Halawa
We have been living here for 9 years, and they want to demolish our room and all of our house.
We were shocked that it was rejected and with the signature of one person, a building would be demolished and make 10 families homeless.
I go to school and I am upset, I cannot study, I cannot focus.
How do you imagine our life? How do we work? Everything has stopped.
Here, the conditions of the Bader family have turned. After they were preparing for the wedding preparations for their son, we find them today preparing for demolition. The future of Hussam. the groom, is bleak and his sister Marwa is a high school student whose dreams are scattered. Their mother, Safa’, is devastated, and their father Wael talks about the situation with pain and sorrow.
Wael Bader
We were happy with our situation and everything was good as normal people, but today our situation changed, we are devastated and we don't know what to do.
Hussam Bader
I had finished everything, and I was planning to get the house ready before January. Now, I have to demolish it and I don’t know what to do. I have to go and rent an apartment.
Marwa Bader
My brother’s house is here, I was very happy and when we found out about the demolition, we were all upset. The atmosphere of the house changed. We were all happy, and now we are all upset and don’t even feel like talking to each other.
Safa’ Bader
The situation is very difficult. We are supposed to be happy and getting ready for the wedding now. We are not ready or happy. We are not able to be happy at all. The situation is very difficult. Even my prepared the house to live in it after getting married. All his dreams were destroyed.
We pay 7000 shekels in property tax, we are also paying the property tax of 82 thousand shekels, and pay 1250 shekels every month since 2011 for a building violation fine worth 75 thousand shekels.
All the morale has been destroyed, there is nothing in me that motivates me to keep going.
I am good at school, and the teachers know that I am good, but they ask me why I have changed? I told them because of the demolition order. They told me it should not affect me and, God willing, it will be all well.
We are all tired, and my daughter is in 12th grade, which makes it even harder. There is no atmosphere for joy or happiness. We can’t be happy for the wedding, or for my daughter who wants to succeed, God willing, we do not know what we want to do.
The families are all exhausted from paying building violations, property tax, lawyers, surveyors and engineers, and various attempts to obtain a license for years, but to no avail.
The municipality claims that it will build a school on the site of the building, and the residents are wondering how a child can study on the ruins of another child's shelter!
To be continued…
