‘We are no longer afraid’: Palestinians promise to fight expulsion from Jerusalem | Conflicts between Israel and Palestine Issues

They lived in the Middle East – The Jerusalem High Court reversed the decision this week regarding seven Palestinian appeals, made up of 44 people, who are being evicted from their homes in the Batan al-Hawa area of ​​Silwan.

The Palestinian people say, however, what they see as the “Judaism” of East Jerusalem, including the expulsion, will continue – it is only a matter of time.

The Wednesday court delay followed the magistrate’s court’s earlier ruling that the families, who are part of 19 families from Batan al-Hawa, be evicted from their homes to accommodate Israeli residents who claim to be living there before 1948. Israel was established.

“The court is delaying the decision because things are not going well in East Jerusalem now because of the Palestinian families facing deportation to Sheikh Jarrah and attacking the Al-Aqsa Mosque, “Fakhri Abu Diab, head of the Committee for Defense of Silan’s Lands and Real Estate and a researcher in Jerusalem, told Al Jazeera.

“With the Secretary of State of the United States Antony Blinken in the region it is no longer a good time to continue to make Palestinians homeless,” Abu Diab said.

“However, Israeli courts will eventually agree with future heirs and the expulsion will continue.”

‘I’m not afraid anymore’

Violence erupted in Shekih Jarrah a few weeks ago when Palestinians protested that several families were leaving their homes and fighting with the Israeli security forces, which resulted in several injuries and arrests.

Walid Husseini – nephew of the late Faisal Husseini who was affiliated with the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) in the 1991 peace talks in Madrid – told Al Jazeera this time that Palestinians will not stop resuming.

“What is happening in the world is similar to the time of the first Intifada when most Palestinians are politically active and fearless,” said Husseini, a former journalist who was involved in early Palestinian threats.

“They have abandoned the powerless Palestinian power as it was written to the Palestinian leadership of the PLO.

“They realize they have to do things for themselves because the international community cannot force Israel.”

The Palestinian Jewish fear of East Jerusalem seems to be in line with the realities of Israel and Israel’s claim that Jerusalem will remain united and the capital of Israel forever.

Israel’s expulsion of Palestinians from their homes in East Jerusalem has been taking place in recent years and has been delayed as international opposition has intensified and forced Israel.

Israel Peace Now says the eviction is part of a plan by Israeli organizations, in collaboration with Israeli authorities, to evacuate about 100 families from Batan al-Hawa, based on what the owners had done before 1948.

Several settlers living in the area before 1948 were paid by the Israeli government.

However, according to Israeli law, Palestinians who have left West Jerusalem and other areas within the Israeli-recognized Green Line are not required to be reimbursed, nor have the right to register their land.

‘Leave all areas’

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) says the evictions were part of Israeli law, including special laws that help seize land to establish settlements in Israel.

A subsequent OCHA study in 2020 revealed that at least 218 Palestinian families in East Jerusalem had deportation cases, most of them set up by civil society organizations, putting 970 people, including 424 children, at risk of fleeing.

“A number of new cases have been identified in the Batan al-Hawa area of ​​Silwan, where most people are still at risk of fleeing as a result of evictions,” he said. He said OCHA.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, in a recent report, said Israeli authorities “should completely end all security activities in [occupied Palestinian territories] including the Middle East “, see also how other Israeli laws have been applied” which have been used as a means of removing Palestinians from their positions in East Jerusalem “, as well as” preventing the destruction and forced expulsion “.

East Jerusalem Judaism continues with the expulsions that took place and what was planned.

According to the UN, Palestinians are struggling to obtain building permits and are building in 15% of East Jerusalem’s occupied territories, even though they are 40% of its population, while 30% of East Jerusalem has been tasked with building illegal Israeli settlements.

City officials in Jerusalem are banning Palestinian homes from continuing to refuse urban planning – a key factor in securing permits for construction in the Palestinian territories, says Israeli rights group B’Tselem

The announcement of other parks in East Jerusalem also hinders the entry into Palestine and four parks have so far been declared.

Restoration of existence

Israeli policies in East Jerusalem have been forced to force Palestinians to leave, thus creating a census that could thwart any attempt to oppose Israeli rule there, B’Tselem said.

“Palestinians who have left East Jerusalem, as a result of this law or for other reasons, are at risk of losing all their citizenship and access to basic services,” the council said.

“Since 1967, Israel has revoked the status of approximately 14,500 Palestinian citizens in East Jerusalem under such circumstances.”

OCHA says Israeli routes have significantly reduced East Jerusalem, while political, commercial, religious and cultural issues for Palestinian people living in the Palestinian territories, from the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Muhammad, a teacher from Silwan who did not want his full name published, told Al Jazeera that Israelis are making life very difficult for Palestinians living in East Jerusalem with insane detention, indiscriminate night raids, and lighting fixtures around the city.

“I am afraid of my family and I will not allow my children, especially my sons, to go too far so I insist on taking them everywhere,” he said.

“I always make sure he stays in the house, and to be honest with you I am very afraid of the future of my children.”