The deafening crack of jackhammers now echoes through one Palestinian neighbourhood in East Jerusalem — but this time, the people tearing homes apart are the families who lived inside them.

In al-Bustan, near the ancient Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, Palestinian residents are demolishing their own houses under pressure from Israeli authorities as plans move forward for a biblical theme park called Kings Garden.

For many families, the choice is brutal. Tear down generations of history themselves — or face enormous demolition bills if the municipality does it for them.

“This is something really hard. This is something bitter,” said Jalal al-Tawil as he watched a tractor smash apart the remains of the house built by his father on the site of his grandparents’ home.

By Wednesday morning, the walls had collapsed into rubble.

Al-Tawil saved one thing until the very end — the thick root of a 35-year-old grapevine that once spread across the property. “It used to provide grapes for all of al-Bustan,” he said.

The Jerusalem municipality reportedly warned him it would cost 280,000 shekels — about £72,000 — if city crews demolished the home. Hiring his own machinery and workers cost less than a tenth of that amount.

“Also, if they do it, they will uproot the land and make a complete mess,” he said. Al-Tawil compared the decision to choosing “between suicide or being murdered.”

More than 57 homes in al-Bustan, part of the Silwan district of East Jerusalem, have already been demolished in the past two years. At least eight more are reportedly due to come down in the coming weeks.

In their place, Israeli authorities plan to build Kings Garden, a biblical-themed park linked to claims that the area was once associated with King Solomon thousands of years ago.

The project forms part of a wider archaeological and tourism drive centred around the so-called City of David, which focuses heavily on Jerusalem’s Jewish history.

Critics say Palestinian history is being erased in the process. Aviv Tatarsky, a senior researcher at the group Ir Amim, accused Israel of wiping out the city’s multicultural identity.

“If this happens to the end, Israelis will go there and they will see the story of the park and they will be completely ignorant of the fact that lives were destroyed,” he said.

The threat of demolition has hung over al-Bustan for nearly 20 years. But residents say pressure intensified after the 7 October 2023 Hamas attacks, the Gaza war and the return of Donald Trump to the White House. International opposition, they say, has failed to stop the bulldozers.

For Mohammad Qwaider, the nightmare feels endless. The 60-year-old father of six recently demolished part of his own family home, hoping it would satisfy planners. Instead, municipal officials returned this week warning the rest would also be destroyed.

“If they demolish our house, we will put up a tent. We will not leave,” Qwaider said.

His 97-year-old mother, Yusra Qwaider, has already endured multiple displacements. Born in Jaffa before 1948, she fled during the Nakba, then again after the 1967 war when Israeli forces demolished the village where her family had resettled.

“From here, we are not leaving,” she said from her bed in a small ground-floor room.

Nearby, community leader Fakhri Abu Diab now lives with his wife in a portable cabin surrounded by the wreckage of their demolished family home. “They demolished our past. They demolished our memories. They demolished our dreams,” he said.

Abu Diab says he is still paying off a 43,000-shekel fine imposed for the demolition operation. He also claims he was charged 9,000 shekels for food consumed by police during enforcement.

The Jerusalem municipality defended the project, saying the houses were built illegally and the park would benefit all residents by creating badly needed public open space. Officials also said they had tried for years to find housing alternatives for residents.

But families in al-Bustan insist they are being pushed out while unauthorised Israeli settler outposts continue expanding elsewhere in East Jerusalem and the West Bank.

Now, with more demolitions looming and tensions still running high, residents fear the battle over al-Bustan is far from over.

Palestinians forced to demolish own homes to make way for Israeli theme park

9 minutes ago, bannork said:

Officials also said they had tried for years to find housing alternatives for residents.

Remove some of the illegal Israeli settlers and they could live in those houses?

You need to crack some eggs to make an omelette innit.

A nice resort would be a replica of the Temple of David .

As a theme park though and not an actual Temple .

Just a theme park with replica of the Temple of David in it .

Nudge nudge, wink wink

Eminent domain issues which would be normal in most countries.

People impacted should be compensated properly as anywhere.

31 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

People impacted should be compensated properly as anywhere.

Yesh but not if they are Palestinian,Syrian,Lebanese or Iranian ?

But, I hate Religious Theme Parks.

We should not be building them.

We should be tearing them down, instead.

Religious Theme Parks: Just too tacky for words....

Edited May 16May 16 by GammaGlobulin

8 minutes ago, GammaGlobulin said:

But, I hate Religious Theme Parks.

We should not be building them.

We should be tearing them down, instead.

Religious Theme Parks: Just too tacky for words....

Understood but there's a market for it. Different people, different tastes.

5 hours ago, Jingthing said:

You need to crack some eggs to make an omelette innit.

16 million eggs to makes a peaceful omelette for 8 billion others? 🙂