Palestinian man suffers stroke induced by an Israeli court order

An elderly Palestinian man Abdullah Khader struggled in distress and pain as he watched his house being demolished in Occupied Jerusalem’s Beit Hanina neighbourhood. 

Khader had spent all his life in that house. An Israeli court ruled in favour of illegal Zionist settlers, transferring Khader's residential property to a Zionist association and snatching his ownership rights over it. 

The trauma caused by the court ruling gave Khader a stroke, leaving him paralysed, several sources reported on Thursday.
 

“We’re steadfast. This is our land. It’s our life,” Khader said. 

As the pictures of him shedding tears while watching his home being knocked down made rounds on Twitter, it prompted condemnation from various quarters. 

Alaa, Khader’s son, said they were left with no option but to demolish their own house to prevent settlers from taking it over. Twenty-six people, including Khader’s children and grandchildren, lived in the house.

“This is my home, where my children and grandchildren were born... My childhood started here in it and I will never leave it,” he said. 

Khader said he has all the paperwork to prove he's the rightful owner of the house who has lived in it since he was a child. 

Israel's municipality in Al-Quds (Jerusalem) claimed that the Khader family’s house was built without a permit. But Israel has made it nearly impossible for Palestinians to obtain construction permits even for simple renovations.

The Khader family’s house demolition came after Israel resumed plans to build more settlements in the occupied West Bank.

Approval of the 2,000 new housing units for Zionist settlers is expected to come next week Benny Gantz said on Wednesday. There was also a plan to build 1,000 housing units for Palestinians in Area C, spread across 60 percent of the occupied West Bank, and East Jerusalem.