A Palestinian resident of the town of Sur Baher, southeast of Jerusalem, was forced today to demolish his own home after receiving a demolition order from the Israeli municipality of West Jerusalem citing unpermitted construction as a pretext. Local sources said that resident Ayman Awad, was forced today to self-demolish his home or else the Israeli municipality will demolish it and obligate him to pay the exorbitant costs. Under the pretext of building without a permit, which is rarely granted to Palestinians in the occupied city, the Israeli municipality has been demolishing or forcing Palestinians to demolish their own houses as part of a policy aimed to restrict Palestinian expansion and growth in occupied Jerusalem. Palestinians in East Jerusalem find themselves compelled to tear down their homes after receiving a demolition order to avoid paying exorbitant costs to the Israeli municipality if it carries out the demolition. Palestinians say they are forced to build without permits because the Israel i municipality discriminates against them and refuses to issue permits or places unreasonable conditions that they cannot afford to issue a permit. At the same time, thousands of housing units are built for Jewish settlers in the city on appropriated Palestinian lands and are made easily accessible to them. Source: Palestine News and Information Agency – WAFA