Jerusalem Municipality demolishes illegal structures in Jabl Mukaber

City Hall cracking down on all illegal construction, unpaid municipal taxes in volatile Arab neighborhood.

By DANIEL K. EISENBUD
Updated: JANUARY 12, 2017 23:46
Jabel Mukaber, east Jerusalem (photo credit: Wikimedia Commons)
Jabel Mukaber, east Jerusalem
(photo credit: Wikimedia Commons)
Four days after a terrorist from the southeastern Jerusalem neighborhood of Jebl Mukaber murdered four Israeli soldiers and wounded 17 others, the Jerusalem Municipality announced it is cracking down on all illegal activity in the area.
Citing illegal construction and unpaid municipal taxes, the municipality said on Thursday it has razed at least eight illegal structures on half a hectare (1.2 acres) of land since Sunday’s truck-ramming attack in the adjacent Jewish neighborhood of Armon Hanatziv.
“The Jerusalem Municipality has been carrying out increased enforcement in the Jebl Mukaber neighborhood, including: dismantling illegal structures in public spaces; addressing illegal building in the neighborhood; mapping illegal building to determine proper legal action; and inspections of outstanding payments of municipal taxes,” the municipality said.
“As part of this increased enforcement, the municipality cleared a five-dunam area on which eight illegal structures had been erected on land designated for a school for the benefit of the local community.
These structures had been operating as an illegal construction- materials business, which had been causing major disturbances in the area and had been impeding the advancement of the plans for this local school,” the statement added.
The municipality said that its aggressive legal enforcement is intended to address serious building offenses, which constitute “flagrant violations of the law and safety codes.”
“The city will continue to work to develop the [capital] for the safety and benefit of all residents,” the municipality concluded.
On Thursday, Palestinian newspapers Al-Ayyam and Al-Quds claimed the municipality approved construction of 2,500 Jewish homes on the plot of the soon-to-be demolished family home of Sunday’s slain terrorist, Fadi al-Qunbar, 28, as well as a “large surrounding area in the neighborhood.”


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