Sheikh Jarrah: Palestinian family forcibly deported | He was seized in East Jerusalem

Sheikh Jarrah, Raptured East Jerusalem – Frightened and terrified, the Salem family is expected to be evicted from their home since 1951 – now three generations.

Following a ruling by the NGOs living in Israel, an Israeli court last year ruled that 11 families, including four children, in the Palestinian area of ​​Sheikh Jarrah, which occupied East Jerusalem, should be forcibly evicted by December 29, 2021.

The forced eviction was temporarily suspended by an Israeli court on December 23 following a police request to follow protests and clashes between Palestine and Israeli forces.

But now it has to happen on a date not mentioned this month, and the couple will not be able to make any more complaints.

The eviction notice was given to the family leader, Fatima Salem, 74, and Israeli freedom fighter and Jerusalem city councilor Jonathan Yosef on December 9.

He, along with Jerusalem’s deputy mayor, Arieh King, said he bought the house from Jewish owners who owned the property before 1948.

The Salem family became refugees in 1948, when about 700,000 Palestinians were displaced from their homes and territories when Israel was established.

In 1951, the couple rented the house under a secure agreement from the Jordanian Custodian of Enemy Property, which was set up to care for Jewish property in Jordan-occupied territories after the 1948 Arab-Israeli war. of East Jerusalem during the 1967 war.

“My parents have been living here since 1951. I was born here, I got married here and I have all my children born here. My three sons, their wives and all the children live here, “Fatima told Al Jazeera.

“We have no other place to go and we can not afford a new place. We may end up on the road in winter and winter.

“Depression is impossible. We all have problems sleeping at night and this only adds to my health. ”

Palestinian residents also questioned the authenticity of the documents issued by their occupants to prove ownership of the Salem family.

Meanwhile, while Israel is implementing laws that allow Jewish refugees to seize property and property in East Jerusalem that they say existed before the 1948 war, the same rules do not apply to Palestinians who were expelled from their homes to establish a Palestinian state. Israel.

According to at the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), at least 970 Palestinians, including 424 children, are at risk of being expelled from East Jerusalem because of lawsuits filed in Israeli courts, especially by Jewish groups, with the help of the Israeli government.

Forced migration and settlement is a violation of international law.

He went inside

The media’s interest in the Salem family case was heightened by 22 European diplomats who visited the Salem family site and have been following the threat of eviction and demolition of Palestinian homes last year.

In 2021, at least 317 Palestinians were evicted from their homes in East Jerusalem, according to OCHA.PDF), when 161 houses were demolished on the pretext that they did not have permission to build houses that Israeli officials could not find.

The EU mission leader in the occupied Palestinian territories, Sven Kuhn von Burgsdorff, said he was shocked by the Salem family’s plans for deportation, and urged Israel to suspend it.

“Eleven people living in the Salem family home are threatened with eviction in the next few days, both Christmas and winter,” von Burgsdorff told reporters at the site during a visit on December 23.

“To me, as a Christian, this is hard to imagine. This is a partial segment. People have every right to be here. They were evacuated in 1948 to West Jerusalem and found accommodations here. And after 70 years the authorities want to deport them and make them refugees.

“This is unethical and unjust.”

Ibrahim Salem, Fatima’s son, said the settlers were making their lives miserable, especially on weekends when they were living in a circle, surrounded by Israeli residents on both sides.

The area was also closed by Israeli forces to prevent supporters and friends from entering the same family, he added.

“Police in riot gear stormed a rally on Friday, removing hundreds of protesters by truck and throwing stones at our family and house, forcing us to leave and telling them their homes and locations,” Ibrahim told Al Jazeera.

“The police are watching and doing nothing. But when Palestinians respond verbally or by stone, they are beaten and imprisoned. ”

Several cars belonging to neighboring Israeli residents were set on fire by Palestinians [Al Jazeera]

Last Friday, Ibrahim and Fatima were beaten by police and police, and Fatima was taken to hospital by ambulance.

Israeli forces fired tear gas, rocket-propelled grenades and beatings on civilians, freedom fighters and journalists, according to OCHA.

At least one journalist and police officer at the Israeli border was injured in the clashes.

‘We expect more violence’

Last year, an expected expulsion of Palestinian families from Sheikh Jarrah led to tensions between Palestinian forces surrounded by the Gaza Strip and the Israeli army, sparking an 11-day war.

On November 2, four Palestinian families close to their escape from Sheikh Jarrah have unanimously rejected the Israeli court’s decision, which seeks to recognize the owners of East Jerusalem owners while their homes are occupied.

The story of Sheikh Jarrah, according to a UN special correspondent reports, “has become a symbol of the threats to forced evacuation that many Palestinian families face in East Jerusalem with the aim of establishing a large Jewish population in the city and making consistent demographic values”.

Ibrahim Salem and his daughter Fatima [Al Jazeera]

Meanwhile, Salem’s family fears for his future.

Ibrahim’s wife, Sabreen, said she was worried she would survive the winter if her family was homeless and forced to sleep outside. She said her eight-year-old daughter Fatima has nightmares about uncertainty about their future.

“Every time they hear an argument outside, or the newcomers screaming, they get very nervous and start to tremble,” Sabreen told Al Jazeera.

“We are expecting more violence this Friday as immigrants return to our area.”