The home of Ghassan Abu Jamal has a beautiful view of Jabel Mukaber . It looks over a small valley with olive trees and grazing sheep . It also stinks here , the distinctive raw sewage smell of what 's known locally as `` skunk water , '' sprayed by Israeli police as a riot-control measure . And when you walk down the road to the Abu Jamal family 's East Jerusalem home , you tread on the metal remains of tear gas canisters . On Tuesday Ghassan Abu Jamal and his cousin Uday walked into a synagogue in the West Jerusalem neighborhood of Har Nof . Armed with meat cleavers , they attacked the worshipers inside , hacking at them with the knives . They killed four rabbis and a police officer before they were shot dead at the scene . Today Ghassan and Uday stare out at mourners from posters and flyers on the walls of the family home . Here they are considered `` shaheed , '' or martyrs , of Israel 's occupation . His 70-year old father , Mohamed , was recovering from a heart operation when he saw the news of the synagogue attack on television . He immediately collapsed . `` I never thought my son would do something like this , '' he tells us . He sits with us at the mourners ' tent erected near the family home . His eyes are red from crying and he ca n't stand for long stretches . We ask Mohamed what he believes triggered the gruesome attack . `` Maybe it was everything , '' he says . `` We want peace . We want coexistence . But we do n't accept being pushed into a corner and treated like slaves . '' In the hours that followed the attack , the Abu Jamal family says 15 relatives were arrested , some badly beaten in the process . They show us photos of the family 's ransacked homes and Ghassan 's younger brother with a purple , swollen eye , blood streaming down his face . Now , Ghassan 's home will be demolished . The family show us the demolition order . His wife is distraught and unable to talk to anyone . Her three children are being cared for by relatives . But perhaps the hardest part : their bodies may never be returned to the family . Israel says no decision has been made , but authorities here fear a family funeral could become a flashpoint , drawing hundreds to hold the cousins up as heroes . Instead , police are considering burying the bodies in a municipal grave . `` It 's impossible . It 's madness . The situation will not calm down unless they deliver the bodies home and allow us to bury them here '' Mohamed says . `` When they kill Arabs the never demolish the house of Jew . We never hear of a Jewish home destroyed when they kill one of us . '' House demolitions , the possibility of denied family burials : Israel is reviving policies it used during the intifada in the hopes of deterring future attacks . Between 2000 and 2005 more than 650 Palestinian homes were demolished , displacing roughly 4,000 people , according to Israeli rights organization B'Tselem . Critics say these policies are ineffective , even counter-productive . But Israel 's government insists that destroying homes may save lives . `` It is an extraordinary step , one of the tools in our tool box , '' Mark Regev , the spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu , told CNN . `` A Palestinian terrorist , any terrorist , may not care about themselves . But maybe they care about their immediate loved ones and where they live . I 've been in security discussions and our experts believe this policy could save lives . '' In the Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan , Enas Shalodi is one of those loved ones . Her son rammed his car into a crowd at a tram station , killing a woman and a 3-week-old baby . He was shot dead at the scene . Now Shalodi picks through the rubble of what 's left of her home . `` It is just for punishing us . That 's what it is , '' she tells us . `` How can destroying this house stop an attack ? '' On the day we visit , Israel 's public security minister , Yitzhak Aharonovitch , makes an unannounced visit to survey the destruction of Shalodi 's home . Shalodi leans out over the remains of her son 's apartment wall to see Aharonovitch arrive . She watches without expression as riot police point up at the blown-out walls of the home . The neighborhood bristles with tension . Riot police have blocked off the road and are checking residents ' IDs and bags . Police with rifles , stationed on rooftops , keep a watchful eye . Aharonovitch wo n't answer any of our questions and bodyguards block our approach . But he lets us film as he shakes hands with riot police and chats with them . For a moment , he seems to veer towards some nearby residents . One of his entourage offers a `` Salaamalaikum '' as if to start a conversation with an older Palestinian resident leaning against a car . But the man turns his head and snubs the greeting . Aharonovitch and his staff quickly turn and drive away to another part of the neighborhood . Throughout the visit , Aharonovitch never speaks to Enas Shalodi . If he did , this is what he would hear : `` Violence only creates more violence . Adding more pressure only creates a bigger explosion . ''
In the wake of several terror attacks , Israel revives policy of demolishing Palestinians ' homes . Israel says the policy may save lives by providing a disincentive to commit attacks . Palestinians say the demolitions are a counterproductive policy that will only make matters worse .