Sheikh Jarrah’s families ‘confirmed’ despite the uncertainty | He was seized in East Jerusalem

Sheikh Jarrah, Raptured East Jerusalem – Palestinians living in Sheikh Jarrah’s region continue to be uncertain as the Israeli Supreme Court is expected to rule on the land for generations to come.

On November 2, four Palestinian families face their forced flight rejection the court’s decision, which required that they recognize the ownership of the citizens of the dispossessed East Jerusalem where their homes lived.

Jerusalem’s attorney, Khaled Zabarqa, told Al Jazeera that the Supreme Court would rely on one of the four options in its expected decision within a few days: filing a new case against both parties, seeking redress, or appealing the decision. a summary of the previous arguments on both sides.

He said the last resort would be for the court to rule on the available resources and grievances of the families.

Zabarqa said the court, which is Israel’s largest judge, had been “placed in a” special agreement “following a recent denial of his decision. The court, he explained, “believes the two sides will accept the verdict in order to come out with less losses”.

The court issued an agreement last month that would see four Palestinian families living in their homes for 15 years as “secure” while paying rent to occupants who occupied the property.

Conflicts erupted between Palestinian youths and the Israeli army after activists encouraged by a court ruling arrived outside Palestinian homes and told them that the land was not theirs, and that they were Jewish.

In April and May, Sheikh Jarrah’s story drew international attention following protests against Israel’s planned expulsion.

‘Palestine will rise’

Mahmoud el-Kurd, the younger brother of Mona and Muhammad el-Kurd twins, who launched a campaign against the expulsion of Palestine, said the whole region was facing serious problems.

“Israeli officials are currently silent on the international interest but in the event of a crisis, they will be deported,” Mahmoud el-Kurd told Al Jazeera.

He added that despite their uncertain future, conflict and fear, Sheikh Jarrah’s people are determined and determined not to leave their homes.

“The Palestinian road will once again stand with us as it did earlier this year,” El-Kurd told Al Jazeera. “My family is very committed to their cause.”

Across the street from the El-Kurd family, Attia’s family agreed.

“Palestinians will rise if Israel tries to continue the expulsion,” Nuha Attia, whose 25-year-old son was detained by Israeli forces for weeks and accused of facing Hamas and Islamic Jihad, told Al Jazeera. .

‘The Righteousness of Ourselves’

Sheikh Jarrah’s families are internally displaced, from Palestinian cities and towns that were purified in the first Palestinian-Israeli war in 1948. The Palestinians call it the “Nakba” or “disaster”, which led to a reduction in the number of Palestinians. 700,000 to 165,000. The Israelites saw it as a war of independence.

They say the Jordanian government, which occupied East Jerusalem in 1948, offered them land in the 1950s when their houses were built in exchange for refugee camps. They’ve been there since then.

“This denial stems from a belief in justice for our crimes and our right to own homes and our own country,” Mona el-Kurd said, speaking on behalf of other families re-evicted, at a local media briefing on November 2.

Israel applies laws that allow Israel to occupy the lands and territories that existed before 1948 when the same freedom does not apply to the Palestinian people, who were expelled from their homes to establish the Jewish state of Israel. They also question the veracity of the documents which the occupants claim to prove their ownership of Sheikh Jarrah’s estate.

About 970 Palestinians are in danger of being deported from East Jerusalem because of lawsuits filed in Israeli courts, mainly by Jewish groups, help from the government of Israel, according to to the United Nations Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA).

Population change

In July, Yudith Oppenheimer, chief of the Israeli human rights body Ir Amim, addressed the UN Security Council highlighting the evacuation of Palestinian families from the city. He further added that since 1967 Israel had invaded and occupied East Jerusalem in violation of international law, government officials had “used racist tactics to undermine the Palestinian power over the city”.

Oppenheimer noted that the measures included, among others, land grabbing, illegal construction, evictions, and “inadequate employment, as well as severe restrictions on the design and construction of houses. [occupied] Jerusalem East ”.

Opponents say the plans for the settlement are in line with the Israeli-led Jerusalem City’s efforts in Judeaise East Jerusalem to adopt Palestinian people.

Sheikh Jarrah’s case, according to a report by a United Nations special correspondent, “has been a signal of the threat to Palestinian families in East Jerusalem with the aim of establishing more and more Jewish communities in the city. ”.

Nufuz Hammad, 72, along with his family, including children and grandchildren, face the threat of fleeing despite living in close proximity since 1956.

“If they had their way, they would have picked us up in cars and put us on the beach,” he told Al Jazeera.

“Living here is very stressful because we do not know when the police will come and when our houses will be destroyed,” he said. “Little kids are upset about what is going on and hide and panic every time an argument breaks out.”

Hammad said although it is difficult to live in the area, the people are united on the issue. “We have each other’s backs and we support each other through adversity and adversity,” he said.