Yusra Qwaider is 97 years old, bedridden and helpless: within days, bulldozers from the Jerusalem municipality will come to tear down the home she’s lived in for over 50 years.
If the demolition in the Al-Bustan neighbourhood goes ahead, it will be the third time she’s lost her home — this time to make way for a park in the Silwan area just outside the Old City.
“I don’t know what to do… I want to stay in my home,” she told AFP from her bed in the house where she lives with 12 family members that the municipality says is illegal.
“When it was built in 1970, there were no permits. We have tried every legal avenue,” said her son Mohammed Qwaider, his face a picture of angst.
Israeli NGO Ir Amim says demolitions in Al-Bustan have increased “dramatically” since October 2023, with the threat hanging over “the vast majority” of its 115 homes.
So far this year, 17 homes have been razed, compared with 13 in 2025 and 24 the year before, said the NGO, which works for an “equitable” sharing of the city.
It blamed the acceleration on a “sudden decision” by the municipality to halt talks with residents over “a proper housing solution for the area”.
Thousands of homes in annexed East Jerusalem were built without permits, which its Palestinian residents say are almost impossible to obtain.
‘Judaisation of Silwan’
Standing by a mountain of rubble where five houses once stood, residents’ committee head Fakhri Abu Diab told visiting diplomats the municipality “wants to demolish all 115 houses by October”.
“We ask you to prevent this, to let us stay in our homes. This is a political decision, and world leaders are doing nothing. You must do something,” he pleaded.
“It’s a war crime what they’re doing, demolishing homes and displacing us. We have nowhere to go,” said the 64-year-old, whose own home was demolished in 2024.
At issue is the expansion of the City of David tourism project in Silwan, claimed to be the original site of ancient Jerusalem.
Razing Al-Bustan aims to make way for the adjacent “King’s Garden” park for visitors to the City of David, which is run by the Elad settler organisation, which operates in occupied East Jerusalem where such activities are considered illegal under international law.
Peace Now’s Yonatan Mizrahi said Elad employed different strategies for taking over specific areas of Silwan.
“You have very few archaeological finds in Al-Bustan, so they’re saying there’s a biblical narrative about the king’s garden and it ‘probably’ was where Al-Bustan is today,” he said.