Israel evicts Palestinian family from East Jerusalem home
Arab tenants removed from home of 50-years by police, to make way for Jewish family who claim pre-1948 ownership
Israeli police have evicted a Palestinian family from their home in east Jerusalem to make way for new Jewish tenants who claimed ownership.
Municipal officials backed by armed police enforced a court order to remove the six-member Shamasneh family from a home claimed by heirs of a Jewish family forced to abandon it in 1948 when it came under Jordanian control.
Israel took control of the area after the 1967 war and continued existing rental arrangements with Arab tenants, but a law allowing Jews to reclaim former homes or repurchase them have set up such conflicts.
The armed officers escorted the Shamasnehs out of the home, with the elderly Ayoub Shamasneh carried out by his relatives.
Mr Shamasneh, 79, said his legal case was still pending. “How can they do this to us?” he said.
His wife Fahima, 75, called it “pure injustice” that after more than 50 years in the house they “throw us out in the street”.
Palestinians claim the evictions aim to increase east Jerusalem’s Jewish population and change the area’s demography, making it harder to divide the city in any eventual peace deal. Israel says it is merely enforcing the law.
Shortly after the eviction, Jewish settlers entered the house accompanied by a private security guard. An Israeli flag hung in the entrance to the kitchen.
Yonatan Yosef, a spokesman for the Jewish residents of the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood in east Jerusalem, said he was pleased to see another home “redeemed”.
“Another house in the Land of Israel, another house in Jerusalem, close to the Western Wall, close to the Old City, close to the Temple Mount, which is the heart of the people ofIsrael,” he said.
“We hope that all the houses in this neighbourhood … will return to Jewish hands.”
Israel captured east Jerusalem, the Gaza Strip and the West Bank in the 1967 Middle East war. The Palestinians claim those territories for their hoped-for state.
Also on Tuesday, Israel’s Shin Bet security service said it had arrested a senior Palestinian security official for inciting violence on his Facebook page.
It said Muhammad al-Sawiti posted a picture of Nazi leader Adolf Hitler and Holocaust mastermind Adolf Eichmann, called for attacks against Jews and praised those who had carried them out.
Overnight, Israeli troops shut down a printing shop in Ramallah it accused of producing “inciting and terror-related material”. Ali Obedat, the shop’s owner, denied the charge.
An Israeli human rights group warned the country’s leaders that reported plans to demolish two Palestinian communities in the Israeli-controlled West Bank would constitute a war crime for which they would bear personal liability.
B’Tselem said it was trying to “stop the commission of such a crime” with its written warning to prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, defence minister Avigdor Lieberman and others.
Thank you for helping to make Jewish News the leading source of news and opinion for the UK Jewish community. Today we're asking for your invaluable help to continue putting our community first in everything we do.
For as little as £5 a month you can help sustain the vital work we do in celebrating and standing up for Jewish life in Britain.
Jewish News holds our community together and keeps us connected. Like a synagogue, it’s where people turn to feel part of something bigger. It also proudly shows the rest of Britain the vibrancy and rich culture of modern Jewish life.
You can make a quick and easy one-off or monthly contribution of £5, £10, £20 or any other sum you’re comfortable with.
100% of your donation will help us continue celebrating our community, in all its dynamic diversity...
Engaging
Being a community platform means so much more than producing a newspaper and website. One of our proudest roles is media partnering with our invaluable charities to amplify the outstanding work they do to help us all.
Celebrating
There’s no shortage of oys in the world but Jewish News takes every opportunity to celebrate the joys too, through projects like Night of Heroes, 40 Under 40 and other compelling countdowns that make the community kvell with pride.
Pioneering
In the first collaboration between media outlets from different faiths, Jewish News worked with British Muslim TV and Church Times to produce a list of young activists leading the way on interfaith understanding.
Campaigning
Royal Mail issued a stamp honouring Holocaust hero Sir Nicholas Winton after a Jewish News campaign attracted more than 100,000 backers. Jewish Newsalso produces special editions of the paper highlighting pressing issues including mental health and Holocaust remembrance.
Easy access
In an age when news is readily accessible, Jewish News provides high-quality content free online and offline, removing any financial barriers to connecting people.
Voice of our community to wider society
The Jewish News team regularly appears on TV, radio and on the pages of the national press to comment on stories about the Jewish community. Easy access to the paper on the streets of London also means Jewish News provides an invaluable window into the community for the country at large.
We hope you agree all this is worth preserving.
