On the 2nd of August 2009, upon an Israeli court decision, two Palestinian families (al-Hanoun and al-Ghawi)) consisting of 53 persons, were evicted from two homes in the East Jerusalem neighborhood Sheikh Jarrah.
Under police escort, Jewish settlers moved into the houses almost immediately after the forceful eviction.
The evictions violate the rights of the refugees and international law and are contrary to the provisions of the Geneva conventions related to occupied...
more »On the 2nd of August 2009, upon an Israeli court decision, two Palestinian families (al-Hanoun and al-Ghawi)) consisting of 53 persons, were evicted from two homes in the East Jerusalem neighborhood Sheikh Jarrah.
Under police escort, Jewish settlers moved into the houses almost immediately after the forceful eviction.
The evictions violate the rights of the refugees and international law and are contrary to the provisions of the Geneva conventions related to occupied territory.
The international community sharply condemned these most recent actions, but until now nothing has been done and the two families are still living on the streets under constant threat of violence against them by the settlers and ultra-orthodox Jewish.
Both families are registered 1948 refugees from Haifa and have been battling the Israeli legal system at every level since 1972 for the right to remain in their homes, which originally were provided to them by UNRWA.
The Israeli courts have repeatedly ruled in favor of groups of settlers laying claim to land and property in occupied East Jerusalem, often on questionable grounds, at the same time as Palestinian refugees are unable to regain possession of property left behind in 1948.
The Hanoun and Al Ghawi family evictions are not isolated instances; they must be seen in the larger context of Israeli settlements which continuously chip away at Palestinian land. Sheikh Jarrah is particularly vulnerable to illegal Israeli expansion because it connects Jewish West Jerusalem with the Old City.
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