112 Israeli Land Grab and Forced Population Transfer of Palestinians Awwad Abu-Qalbayn - Silwan, East Jerusalem (Part II)401 “In 30 August 1970, the Israeli Minister of Finance declared, in accordance with the Land (Acquisition for Public Purposes) Ordinances402 the confiscations of our lands in Al-Faruq Neighborhood in Silwan, East Jerusalem. In 1990, my son Mohammed wanted to build his own house on the land that hadn’t been confiscated or declared a "green zone". He presented to the municipality his 900 meters project proposal designed by an architect who stated that the house should not exceed 50 square meters since the municipality would not give permission to build more than 6 percent of the area of the land and should not exceed one floor in height. Mohammed presented all the required documentations and paid for a water supply with checks. Sadly, the municipality informed him that for this kind of proposal, he could build a 45 meters house, otherwise, he should pay 10,000 NIS ($2,700) for the extra 5 meter square. Then, they informed him that he should give up 300 meters (33 percent) of his land for public use according to the Israeli land law. Due to the excessive constraints, my son decided to abandon the idea of building. However, the water company sued him because he didn’t finish paying the water supplies. All this shows the double face of the Israeli policies: even if they allow you to build, at the same time they obstruct you with immovable constraints. We cannot utilize our own lands and this has caused a serious housing crisis: too few homes for too many people. For instance, I have 5 sons and 3 girls and I cannot build a house for them.” Approving a Building Permit If the Licensing Authority finds the building permit application satisfactory it will enable passage to the Local Planning and Building Committee (Local Committee) for consideration. The Local Committee typically requires further documentation, including: • Additional maps and charts; • Approval documents from: Rear-Area Headquarters of the Israeli military, the Israeli Land Administration, the telephone company, the electric company, the fire department, the Ministry of Health, and a laboratory report from an authorized laboratory regarding the quality of the concrete, sanitation and gas system in the planned construction. 401 Abu-Qalbayn, ‘Al-Faruq Neighborhood, Silwan - East Jerusalem’. 402 The 1943 Land (Acquisition for Public Purposes) Ordinance is a Mandate-era law enabling Israel’s Finance Minster to confiscate private land for the perpetually vague term: “public purposes”. For further elaboration, see Chapter I (Section on Land Confiscation)..