Ministry of Tourism participates in Jeddah International Travel, Tourism ExhibitionPalestinian resident of East Jerusalem forced by Israeli municipality to self-demolish his house

The Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities is participating in the activities of the 12th edition of the Jeddah International Travel and Tourism Exhibition (JTTX), which is currently being held in Jeddah, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, with a pavilion that includes six hotel facilities and EgyptAir. The Egyptian participation in this exhibition comes within the great interest that the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities pays to the Arab market, especially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Ghada Shalaby, Deputy Minister of Tourism and Antiquities for Tourism Affairs, and Ambassador Ahmad Abdel Majeed, the Egyptian Consul General in Jeddah, opened the Egyptian pavilion in the exhibition and met with the exhibitors. They were accompanied by Nasser Turki, a member of the Board of Directors of the Egyptian Federation of Tourist Chambers, and Ahmad Ali, Director General of Foreign Offices at the Central Administration of Tourist Offices at the Egyptian General Authority for Tourism Promotion, in addition to repr esentatives of the private tourism sector and Egyptian airlines. Source: State Information Service Egypt JERUSALEM: A Palestinian resident of the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Jabal al-Mukaber was forced to demolish his own home after receiving a demolition order from the Israeli municipality of West Jerusalem, citing unpermitted construction as a pretext. The house owner, Jameel Sarri, said he was forced today to self-demolish his 100-square-meter home following a raid by a municipal staff into his home. The municipality staff threatened the owner that if he did not demolish his house on his own, the municipality staff would demolish it and force him to pay exorbitant amounts of money in costs and fines. The demolition rendered the five-member family homeless in the cold winter weather. 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 at restricting Palestinian expansion and growth in occupied Jerusalem. Palestinians in Eas t 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 Israeli 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 colonists in the city on appropriated Palestinian lands and are made easily accessible to them. Source: Palestine News and Information Agency