For Palestinians born in Jerusalem, Israeli construction permits are very expensive and often impossible to obtain. Therefore, many build homes without permits, only to later face Israeli demolition orders and costly fines. Unable to afford the fee, a growing number of Palestinians have made the difficult choice to demolish their own homes.

Rafat Abuzaid

JERUSALEM HITTING HOME

Film Director

The first hammer blow feels like you're hitting yourself. It's not easy to demolish your dream.

AZZAM AFIFI

A PALESTINIAN LIVING IN EAST JERUSALEM

In East Jerusalem, Palestinians whose houses are declared illegal by Israel are being forced to raze their own homes.

The city of Jerusalem lies at the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and property, housing and Israeli settlements are burning issues.

The Israeli occupation of East Jerusalem has forced thousands of Palestinians from their homes and created a serious housing shortage. Since 1967, the Palestinian population has quadrupled, climbing to over 300,000 - nearly 40 percent of the population. Yet the Israeli municipal authorities in East Jerusalem have restricted the area available for Palestinians to build to just nine percent of the land.

For Palestinians, construction permits are prohibitively expensive and bureaucratic processes make them difficult to obtain. Many Palestinians have had no choice but to build their own homes without permits, even with the threat of demolition hanging over their heads.

Israel has now declared around 20,000 of these buildings to be illegal and has ordered their demolition.

On the first day of demolition I left.My sons called to say they’d started. I heard the hammer strike. It’s as if my whole life was destroyed.

SAHAR SHAREEF

PALESTINIAN LIVING IN JERUSALEM

Rather than paying the high costs of fighting demolition orders in court, or paying the fines incurred when Israeli crews pull down their homes, Palestinian families are making the difficult choice to do the demolitions themselves. Forced to destroy their own homes, many have been made homeless, or pushed away from the city centre. Others have chosen to remain in the ruins of their properties.

Jerusalem: Hitting Home examines how these demolitions are not just changing the face of the city but also the lives of the people who live there.

The film follows three families who have been forced to take hammers to their own homes. It traces the events that led to the demolitions, where the families have gone afterwards, and the emotional and economic impact it has had on them. The filmmaker also charts how city planning and municipal policies have led to a set of building rules that many argue are pushing Palestinians towards the outskirts of the city, disrupting their lives and shifting the city's demographics in order to reinforce and boost the Jewish majority.

The economic blockade of Palestinians in Jerusalem is part of the occupation. It creates pressure. The economy and housing are important weapons in this demographic war.

ZEYAD HAMOORI

JERUSALEM SOCIO-ECONOMIC CENTRE

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