Palestinians in Jerusalem Ordered to Leave Home for Jews

       Jerusalem, 27 Muharram 1434/11 December 2012 (WAFA/MINA) – The Israeli occupation authorities informed the Shamasneh family  to leave their Sheikh Jarrah home, in occupied East Jerusalem, in order to turn it over to a Jewish organization, the family lawyer said Monday.

       Muhannad Jabara, who represents the family, said the Israeli Magistrate Court in West Jerusalem ruled on Thursday that the house belongs to a Jewish settlement organization and therefore the Shamasneh family, which has been living in the house for five decades, has to leave it.

 

       He said he will appeal the court ruling and eviction order.

      The Shamasneh home is a small 50-square meter in area and houses eight people. The family rented the house from the Jordanian government in 1964, three years before Israel’s occupation of the city in 1967, which means they were protected tenants that cannot be evicted as per Israeli law.

       The Jewish organization claimed the house and land were owned by Jews and that the Jordanian custodian of enemy property, as it was called, and which was in charge of abandoned Jewish property, has rented the house to the Shamasneh family.

       Jewish groups claim most of the Sheikh Jarrah area was owned by Jews and they are gradually reclaiming it through court orders.

       Several Palestinian families have already been evicted by force from their homes in the same area, where fanatic Jewish families have moved in. The Palestinian families lived in the streets for a while until they moved to new residences after they lost a long battle in court to get their homes back.(T/R-010/R-006)

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)