A Palestinian living in Al Quds City (Jerusalem) tore down his house by himself Saturday to avoid paying the Israeli municipality of Jerusalem exorbitant amount if the Municipality demolishes his house by using its crews, according to a local source. According to Palestine News and Info Agency "WAFA," the municipality had issued a demolition order to Mahmoud Aramin for building a house near the Old City wall without a license. He has been paying monthly installments for fines the municipality had already imposed on him. Israel does not grant building permits to Palestinians to build in East Jerusalem as part of its effort to reduce the number of Palestinians in the occupied city while building thousands of housing units in settlements for Jews only in and around the city. The all-Jewish Jerusalem municipality had on Thursday inaugurated a 50-apartments settlement for Jews only in the all-Arab Ras Al-Amoud neighborhood in East Jerusalem while denying Palestinians the right to build in the same neighborhood, or any other neighborhood in the city.
