Samira’s father bought a house in Silwan in 1944, and that was Samira’s first home. She and her sisters sold the house 30 years ago, and she used her share of the sale to buy an old house in Silwan’s al-Bustan neighborhood. She has been living in it ever since along with 16 members of her family—a total of 6 adults and 11 children.
Samira explained that Israeli authorities aim to expel Palestinians from their homes in Jerusalem. “Living conditions in Jerusalem are very hard; we are barely surviving,” she shared. She also explained that they have been facing difficulties for decades. She remembers that about one year after Israel occupied East Jerusalem in 1967, the adults around her were talking about Israel’s denial of building permits to Palestinians. She was 18 years old at that time. She has been living with the fear of expulsion since that day. She intimated that while she sometimes feels frustrated, she realizes that, “I need to overcome this feeling to defend my land.”
Silwan’s Palestinian residents remain in a constant state of uncertainty regarding their housing rights. They also experience intense settler violence often supported by settler organizations with the unofficial support of the Israeli police and security forces. This has had a particularly severe impact on children.