[News] Sheikh Jarrah Palestinians reject Israeli court deal with settlers

[Anti-Imperialist News]

middleeasteye.net
<https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/sheikh-jarrah-evictions-israel-palestinians-reject-deal-settlers>
Sheikh
Jarrah Palestinians reject Israeli court deal with settlers
By Latifeh Abdellatif - November 2, 2021
------------------------------

Palestinian <https://www.middleeasteye.net/countries/palestine> families
facing expulsion from their homes in the occupied East Jerusalem
neighbourhood of Sheikh Jarrah have turned down an Israeli
<https://www.middleeasteye.net/countries/israel> court's proposal that
would eventually lead to their eviction in favour of Jewish settlers.

"We rejected the 'proposal' by the Israeli Supreme Court, which would have
rendered us 'protected tenants' at the mercy of settler organisations," the
families said in a statement.

"We stand firm in our refusal to compromise on our rights despite the lack
of institutional guarantees that would protect our presence as Palestinians
in occupied Jerusalem."

Israeli authorities have been attempting to expel four Palestinian families
from the East Jerusalem neighbourhood for months, despite the Palestinians
living in their homes for generations.

'This is our decision, which we made a long time ago, not today. The people
of Sheikh Jarrah have proven their firm positions during the past period'

*- Muna el-Kurd, Sheikh Jarrah resident*

The plight of the families has become an issue that has attracted attention
across the world, and been a rallying cry for Palestinians in the occupied
West Bank, beseiged Gaza Strip, Jerusalem, Israel and beyond.

In May, the possible evictions triggered protests in Palestinian towns and
cities in Israel and contributed to a flare-up in violence in Gaza, where
Israel waged a deadly bombing campagin. Israeli forces killed at least 260
Palestinians
<https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israel-palestine-gaza-west-bank-palestinians-israelis-killed-names>,
including 66 children. Twelve people were killed in Israel by Palestinian
rockets, including two children.

“This is our decision, which we made a long time ago, not today. The people
of Sheikh Jarrah have proven their firm positions during the past period,"
Muna el-Kurd, a 23-year-old resident of the nieghbourhood and renowned
activist, told Middle East Eye.

Muna and her brother Mohammed el-Kurd have become the public face of the
families' fight against expulsion.

Outisde their home, their father, Nabil, said the family would be "sitting
here and persisting until our last breath".

"For this land, we want to stay and endure, and to continue being a lump in
the throat of the settlers and their supporters," he told MEE.

The Palestinians are some of 28 families who are facing similar
court-ordered evictions in Sheikh Jarrah, which Israel occupied in the 1967
Middle East war. Around 500 Palestinians are at threat of explusion overall.

<https://www.middleeasteye.net/video/time-100-sheikh-jarrahs-outspoken-el-kurd-twins-make-magazines-top-100-list#autoplay>

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Earlier this year, a Jerusalem court ruled against the families, who have
then lodged a series of appeals moving the case up to the Israeli Supreme
Court. With the case so emotive and attracting worldwide attention, the
court has repeatedly postponed judgement, and most recently attempted to
strike a deal between the Israeli settlers and the Palestinian families.

The Supreme Court asked the Palestinians to accept a scheme where they can
live in their homes for at least 15 years, paying a symbolic amount of
rent. It is illegal for Israel to settle its citizens in occupied
Palestinian land under international law.

Now the court must consider the Palestinians' appeal. The families were
originally settled in Sheikh Jarrah in 1956 by Jordan, which controlled
Jerusalem's eastern neighbourhoods at the time, and the United Nations.
They had been displaced from their homes during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war.

Settlement groups argue that the land previously belonged to Jewish
families, some of which were also said to have been uprooted in 1948.
Israel does not allow the return of any Palestinians expelled during that
conflict or their descendants, but regularly settles its own citizens in
territory it captured in 1967.

Muna el-Kurd said: "We have remained silent due to the confidentiality of
the legal procedure and the necessity of not leaking it to the settlers."

"The occupation government bears responsibility for the theft of our
homes," she added.

Aref Hammad, another homeowner at risk of eviction, told MEE: "We thank all
the lawyers who stood by our side in our case, and we reject any
accusations against them. We must confirm that no one pressured us to make
our decision, but it was a decision from the people of the neighbourhood."
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