One disabled, one in a coma, yet large Palestinian family faces Israeli eviction from East Jerusalem home

The Palestine Chronicle
Mon, 20 Jan 2020 17:53 UTC

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In recent decades, Israeli settler organizations, with the support of the Israeli authorities, have taken control of properties within Palestinian neighborhoods in East Jerusalem.

An Israeli court on Sunday ruled in favor of an extremist Jewish organization, that has been trying to evict a Palestinian family from their home in East Jerusalem, alleging that the land upon which the house was built previously belonged to Jews.

The legal ground for the ruling is based on an Israeli law,which gives Jews the right to claim properties that allegedly belonged to them in East Jerusalem while denying Palestinians the same right.

"The ruling could set a precedent for the eviction of an additional 700 Palestinians living in the Batn al-Hawa enclave of Silwan," in occupied East Jerusalem, wrote Nir Hasson in Israeli newspaper Haaretz.

The Palestinian Rajbi family has been residing in their East Jerusalem home since 1975.

The Israeli judge has now ordered their eviction.

The head of the family, Nasser Rajbi, is responsible for the welfare of 22 people, including his children and grandchildren. "One of his daughters is seriously disabled, while his 25-year-old son suffered a heart attack two-and-a-half months ago and has since been in a coma," the newspaper reported.

According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in the Occupied Territories (OCHA), "In recent decades, Israeli settler organizations, with the support of the Israeli authorities, have taken control of properties within Palestinian neighborhoods in East Jerusalem and established settlement compounds."

"Palestinian houses have been transferred to settler organizations by various means. In some cases, settlers have pursued court cases to evict the Palestinian residents, on the grounds that the land or buildings were owned by Jewish individuals or associations in East Jerusalem prior to 1948," OCHA said in a recent report.

Comment: More information from Quds News Network:

Wadi Hilweh Information Center said that the court ruled on Sunday to empty a residential building owned by Naser Rajabi family in the neighborhood of Batn El Hawa and grant it for the settlement organization "Ateret Cohanim", claiming that the land, where the building was built back in 1948, is owned by Jews.

The center and the committee of Batn El Hawa said in a joint statement on Sunday that the judge of the Magistrate's Court rejected an appeal by Rajabi family, who challenged injunctions by the settlement organization issued in 2016. They started ever since a court battle to prove the family's ownership of the land and building.

The statement also added that "Ateret Cohanim" was authorized to administrate the properties, which are claimed to be owned by Jews in 2001. It started issuing injunctions in 2015, ordering 84 Palestinian families to evacuate the neighborhood.

The Rajabi building is one of several other buildings that are targeted by the settlement organization, which plans to grab the property of nearly 2 acres in Batn El Hawa, as the organization claims that they were owned by Yemeni Jews back in 1881.

"Ateret Cohanim" claims that the Israeli supreme court recognized the ownership of Yemeni Jews to the land.

The statement added that the targeted land has 35 residential buildings built on it and all of its residents have been living in the neighborhood for decades after buying the lands from their former owners. They also have the documents, which prove that.

Ottoman archives hold records of Jerusalem deeds

Haaretz reported that the residents were given until July 1 to empty the building.

Rule of law means nothing if it impedes the Occupation's advancement. Emptying Jerusalem of it Palestinian inhabitants has always been one of Israel's principle goals. With Trump's endorsing Jerusalem as Israel's capitol, the effort has ramped up.

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