‘No longer afraid’: Palestinians vow to fight Jerusalem evictions
Jerusalem’s District Court postponed a ruling this week on an appeal by seven Palestinian families, comprising 44 people, facing expulsion from their homes in the Batan al-Hawa area of Silwan.
Palestinians say, however, what they see as the “Judaisation” of East Jerusalem, incorporating expulsions, will continue – it is just a matter of time.
The court delay on Wednesday followed an earlier ruling by the magistrate’s court that the families, part of 19 families from Batan al-Hawa, be expelled from their homes to make way for Israeli settlers who claim they lived there before 1948 when the state of Israel was established.
“The court will delay the ruling because the situation is very tense in East Jerusalem now due to the Palestinian families also facing expulsion in Sheikh Jarrah and the raids into Al-Aqsa Mosque,” Fakhri Abu Diab, head of the Committee for the Defense of Silwan’s Lands and Real Estate and a researcher on Jerusalem affairs, told Al Jazeera.
“With the American Secretary of State Antony Blinken currently in the region it’s also not a good time to proceed with making Palestinians homeless,” Abu Diab said.
“However, the Israeli courts will eventually side with the settlers in the future and the expulsions will go ahead.”
‘No longer afraid’
Clashes erupted in Shekih Jarrah over several weeks recently as Palestinians protested the pending expulsion of several families from their homes and clashed with Israeli security forces, resulting in many injuries and arrests.
Walid Husseini – nephew of the late Faisal Husseini who was the Palestine Liberation Organization’s (PLO) liaison representative to the 1991 Madrid Conference peace talks – told Al Jazeera this time the Palestinians will not give up when the expulsions begin again.
“The situation on the ground is similar to that during the first Intifada as more Palestinians are becoming politicised and are no longer afraid,” said Husseini, a former journalist who took part in the first Palestinian uprising.
“They have given up on the impotent Palestinian Authority just as they previously gave up on the corrupt Palestinian leadership of the PLO.
“They realise they have to take matters into their own hands as the international community will not pressure Israel.”Palestinian fears of the Judaisation of East Jerusalem appear to be backed by facts on the ground and Israeli assertions that Jerusalem will remain united and the capital of Israel forever.
Israel’s expulsion of Palestinians from their homes in East Jerusalem has been an ongoing process over the years followed by periods of quiet and delays as international criticism grew and pressure on Israel increased.
Israeli organisation Peace Now said the planned expulsions were part of wider plans by Israeli settler movements, in coordination with Israeli authorities, to expel about 100 families from Batan al-Hawa, based on ownership claims from before 1948.
A number of settlers who used to live in the area before 1948 were financially compensated by the Israeli government.
However, according to Israeli law, Palestinians displaced from West Jerusalem and other areas within Israel’s internationally recognised Green Line are not eligible for compensation, and neither do they have legal rights to reclaim their land.
