The saga of illegal construction involving Sheikh and engineer Ahmad Alyan from the Beit Safafa neighborhood in southern Jerusalem, which occupied enforcement authorities for years, has now taken a surprising media turn – his daughter, Bushra Alyan, completed the scientific track of the Palestinian high school matriculation exams, known as Tawjihi, with an average score of 99.6, earning her first place among students in the Jerusalem District of the Palestinian Authority.
However, what should have remained a personal academic achievement quickly became a political public relations campaign, presenting the family of a convicted building offender as a symbol of “steadfastness” against Israeli law enforcement authorities.
How Did Illegal Construction in Beit Safafa Become a Political Campaign?
The academic achievement comes after years in which Alyan acted in complete violation of planning and building laws. Beginning in 2010, Alyan waged a determined legal battle in an attempt to retroactively legalize a large residential structure that he had built on his own initiative and without obtaining a lawful building permit.
Over the years, despite repeated warnings over the illegal construction offenses and accumulated fines totaling NIS 76,000, Alyan continued to maintain the unlawful structure, using legal proceedings to buy time and postpone the inevitable.
The saga ended only after Alyan had exhausted all available options and the Jerusalem Municipality activated administrative demolition orders. In August 2022, and in a second round in September 2024, Alyan chose a process of “self-demolition” and removed the illegal structure himself in order to avoid additional fines and the costs of demolition by the municipality, including the substantial expense of police security.
Footage of the demolition was used by Palestinian elements in East Jerusalem to create a viral propaganda campaign on social media, portraying the building offender as a victim of a “housing crisis” who was suffering from the cruelty of the Israeli authorities.
Now, the contrast between law enforcement and the demolition of the illegal structure on the one hand, and the daughter’s outstanding examination results on the other, is being used by the Palestinian media and neighborhood activists to turn the family into cultural heroes. The local community in Beit Safafa in particular, and social media networks in East Jerusalem more broadly, have appropriated the girl’s achievements – she has also memorized the Quran – while embracing both the father, who disregarded Jerusalem’s planning and building laws for an extended period, and his high-achieving daughter, showering them with public admiration, honor and recognition.
