OIC condemns new Israeli demolition operations in occupied al-Quds

The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has denounced new Israeli demolition operations against Palestinian homes and structures, with more potentially on the way, in the occupied East al-Quds neighborhood of Silwan.

According to Press TV, on Tuesday, Israeli bulldozers, along with police forces, razed a building in Silwan’s al-Bustan area, which housed a butcher shop owned by a Palestinian family.

Ensuing skirmishes with protesters injured 13 Palestinians, including six who were struck by Israeli sponge-tipped bullets, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent.

Three Palestinians were also arrested in the clashes with Israeli police officers.

Al-Quds-based Attorney Daniel Seidemann said about ninety structures in Bustan could be facing eventual demolition.

While the immediate fate of the Palestinian area might be unclear, Israel’s long-term intentions are plain, he added. “It is part of a project to ring the Old City with settlements and settlement-related open spaces with biblically inspired themes.”

On Wednesday, the OIC General Secretariat said the demolition of Palestinian houses and facilities by the Israeli occupation forces in Bustan is “an extension of the deportation of al-Quds original inhabitants to realize Judaization and colonial settlement designs with aim of altering the demographic, geographic, and legal reality of the Holy City.”

The 57-nation body also stressed that such measures constituted a violation of international law.

It further called on the international community to “shoulder its responsibilities to provide international protection for the Palestinian people, put an end to the occupation, realize just and durable peace in accordance with the relevant UN resolutions and the API (Arab peace initiative) and the establishment of the independent state of Palestine with al-Quds al-Sharif as its capital.” 

Bustan residents said Nidal Rajibi, the owner of the butcher shop, had received a mandated warning letter that instructed him to pull the building down.

ME