The rubble of Fakhri Abou Diab's house, demolished by Israeli authorities. Saturday, May 9, in East Jerusalem. (Credit: Amira Souilem/L'Orient Today)
He welcomes us into his cozy living room where two cats roam lazily around, royally ignoring the latest Al Jazeera alerts. This resident of the Silwan neighborhood in occupied East Jerusalem, Palestine, prefers to remain anonymous. "She’ll never survive this," he says. "She" refers to his 97-year-old mother. Displaced three times since the Nakba — the forced exodus of 800,000 Palestinians following the creation of the State of Israel in 1948 — she is struggling to cope with the latest tragedy to befall on her. The order came three months ago when their family home was declared an "illegal" structure by the Israeli municipality of Jerusalem, meaning it would be slated for demolition. Israeli authorities gave them a choice: demolish the house themselves or pay hefty fines to have bulldozers or even police sent...
He welcomes us into his cozy living room where two cats roam lazily around, royally ignoring the latest Al Jazeera alerts. This resident of the Silwan neighborhood in occupied East Jerusalem, Palestine, prefers to remain anonymous. "She’ll never survive this," he says. "She" refers to his 97-year-old mother. Displaced three times since the Nakba — the forced exodus of 800,000 Palestinians following the creation of the State of Israel in 1948 — she is struggling to cope with the latest tragedy to befall on her. The order came three months ago when their family home was declared an "illegal" structure by the Israeli municipality of Jerusalem, meaning it would be slated for demolition. Israeli authorities gave them a choice: demolish the house themselves or pay hefty fines to have bulldozers or even...
