The past two weeks in Sheikh Jarrah have seen a resurgence of settler harassment and violence against the local Palestinians – beyond low intensity abuse that is the norm.
Verbal sparring and abusive exchanges were sparked when a young settler entered the occupied Al-Ghawe house on August 16th. The teenager then went to the top of house and hoisted a huge Israeli flag up on the roof, next to the oversized menorah, a deliberate act of provocation intended to insult the evicted Palestinian family further.
The Palestinian Al Ghawe house that has been settler-occupied since Aug. 2009
After more shouting from both sides in Hebrew and Arabic, the Israeli settler picked up a very large rock and started threatening to throw it at people. Four of five community members rushed towards him and managed to take the rock away and restrain him. The settler called police, told them a warped version of events, and the usual outcome consequently occurred – one of the shebab was arrested.
After another scuffle between a large group of settlers and local Palestinians, police were again called by the settlers and, as usual, they arrested only a Palestinian and no Israelis despite fact that they had initiated the violence. Ayman Al Ghawe was kept in jail for one week, accused of assaulting three settlers, even though there was no evidence of this and in fact it was him who was left bleeding at the time of his arrest.
Police have also been trying to arrest an eleven year old boy from the area who settlers claim threw glass at “their” house – the house belonging the the Al Ghawe family which they have occupied since August 2nd 2009. He was summoned to a Jerusalem police station but did not attend.
On August 22nd at about 7AM, another Sheikh Jarrah resident called Jad had the tyres on his vehicle slashed. Although there were no witnesses to the attack, the Palestinians strongly suspect that settler youth were behind the attack because many similar incidents have occurred in the past.
The van was used in the course of his work, transporting disabled people. Following this vandalism, ISM volunteers hopefully suggested that the Israeli company which employs him mighty cover the cost of the repair, since he had been the victim of a racist attack. However, the opposite happened. The Israeli company said that they were concerned the vehicle might be set on fire next time – they took the view that Jad’s vulnerability as an inhabitant of a neighbourhood frequently subjected to attacks from settlers made him a liability, and he was fired from his job.
Three half-demolished shops in Izbet Tabib: the owners hope to stop any further bulldozers from the Israeli company Delek
24 August 2010 | ISM Media
In the small village of Izbet Tabib near Qalqiliya in the north of the West Bank, 27 of the 55 houses have received eviction orders from Israeli authorities. Located in Area C (following the Oslo Accords making it Israeli civilian and militarily controlled), the village has an extremely hard time getting building permits. Furthermore as it is situated near both the annexation wall and several illegal settlements, villagers experiences daily harassment and constant tension.
The wall has annexed large parts of Izbet Tabib’s farm land, and extremist Israeli settlers are in the habit of driving through the village and harassing the inhabitants by shooting in the air or setting olive trees on fire. Also, the Israeli Occupation Forces are almost always present, creating additional trouble and fear for the village. The Popular Committee and others attempting to resist the occupation are especially targeted by the Israeli authorities in an attempt to repress this resistance.
A case in point is that of the Mayor and Head of the Popular Committee, Bayian Tabib. He and his fifteen-year-old son, Thair Bayain Tabib, were arrested on Friday the 30th of July around 2 p.m. as they stepped out of the mosque after the Friday noon prayer. Both were accused of throwing stones at a main road near the settlement – both declared themselves innocent. Regardless of the complete lack of evidence, Israeli soldiers, after having detained the two men for about an hour, put them in a jeep and drove them to a secluded place slightly outside of the village. Here, the commander in charge demanded that Bayain Tabib keep the youngsters of the village completely away from the main road and threatened him with further arrests if he didn’t obey. The soldiers seized the identity cards of the two men unlawfully and finally released them after one hour and a half.
Episodes like this are not exceptional. Thair Tabib has been arrested a number of times, the first when he was thirteen years old, and is always accused of stone-throwing. His father, Bayain Tabib, was in prison for two months in 2002 during the second Intifada. As the head of the Popular Committee, Tabib receives special attention from the Israeli authorities. Israeli soldiers often park outside his home and point their machine guns at anyone coming or going in an attempt to intimidate Tabib, his wife, and his nine children.
The latest threat is to three shops in the village which were partially demolished on August 12th by a bulldozer owned by a private Israeli gas company, Delek. The firm wants to build a new gas station in the area for the roughly 5,000 Israeli settlers from Zufin and the many more who inhabit Alfei Menashe, the biggest illegal settlement nearby, as at present the only one nearby is Palestinian. The land was sold to them by a Palestinian collaborator with Israeli ID but the shopkeepers are resisting the demolition of their shops which would destroy their livelihood. ISM activists will be staying overnight together with the Mayor and owners of the shops in case a demolition bulldozer returns – they have come on the three previous Thursdays and are expected again this Thursday. According to the villagers court has issued a demolition order on the shops.
Meanwhile, despite the great pressure that Izbet Tabib is exposed to from both soldiers, settlers, the wall, eviction and demolition orders, the village has become an important and inspiring site for resistance against the occupation. What is particularly unique is that Izbet Tabib joins an extremely small number of villages that have succeeded in having the wall that used to cut deeply into their farm land physically removed and thus getting most of their stolen farm land back after a verdict that declared the original route of the wall illegal.
Arab, Jewish left-wing activists mark first anniversary of protests against evacuation of Palestinian families from east Jerusalem neighborhood in favor of Jews. Rallies held in Tel Aviv, Nazareth, Haifa as well
More than 1,000 people across Israel on Friday took part in activities marking one year since Jewish residents entered the east Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah.
Every week for the past year, Arab and Jewish left-wing protestors have been holding a protest in the neighborhood, calling for the return of three Palestinian families to their homes.
Hundreds of participants, including intellectuals and politicians, began marching in Tel Aviv from the Habima Theater to Allenby Street in the afternoon hours, before getting on buses and heading to Jerusalem. Rallies were held in additional places in Israel, including Haifa and Nazareth.
“We’ll be here next year as well, inshallah (‘God willing’ in Arabic),” said one of the protst’s organizers, Sara Benninga. She spoke of the achievements of the group of young people who started the protest, which is defined by many as “the core of the new Left.”
“The problem is not just Sheikh Jarrah,” she said. “It repeats itself in other places across the country and stems from discrimination, inequality and racism, which are the foundation of these moves. I feel that compared to last year, we have made a great leap in the awareness of the injustice taking place here, and we have a lot of PR work to do in order to reach people. It’s a feeling of a beginning of something wonderful and brave.”
Some 600 protestors arrived in Sheikh Jarrah carrying signs reading, “Democracy stops in Sheikh Jarrah.”
Solidarity protest for Sheikh Jarrah - Photo: Sheikh Jarrah
One of the protestors, author David Grossman, told Ynet, “I like it better here than at home.” He said he viewed the expansion of the struggle as a positive phenomenon. “I hoped this would happen and I hope it’s only the beginning,” he said.
Grossman added, however, that the people were not responding to the struggle. “The people, assuming there is such a thing, are apathetic and looking for an excuse not to do something. In the face of this complete indifference, it’s refreshing and encouraging to see the amount of people willing to come here every Friday afternoon to protest, whether in the heat or in the rain.”
He criticized the Israeli society, saying it was “stuck in a situation it created on its own, and is the victim of anxieties and lack of faith in change. It’s insulting to see how little we are capable of doing to help ourselves,” he told Ynet.
Knesset Member Dov Khenin (Hadash) said that “struggle is intensifying, because people understand we are fighting here not just against the injustice suffered by the Palestinians in the neighborhood, but also for ourselves, for our future in this country. Because with a settlement in the heart of Arab east Jerusalem, we won’t be able to reach an arrangement of two states for two people. It’s a critical battle and more and more people are realizing that.”
He directed his criticism at representatives of the Labor Party, who have avoided taking part in the protests. “They must think that being more similar to the Right will make them more popular, but they don’t understand that in such a case there will be no reason to favor them over the Right.”
Dozens marched to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) headquarters in Jerusalem on Monday, August 2nd, to mark the first anniversary of the eviction of two Palestinian families from their homes in the East Jerusalem neighbourhood of Sheikh Jarrah.
Holding UNRWA to account
Representatives of the al-Ghawi and Hanoun families, whose homes have been occupied by Israeli settlers since August 2nd 2009, were joined by Palestinian, Israeli and international supporters, who gathered at ten in the morning outside the houses in question, held a short prayer, and then marched to the UNRWA compound.
The group of around sixty people, including members of the media, asked to be admitted for an audience with UN representatives. Family members demanded of officials why, after one year, nothing had been done, and Palestinians from the same neighbourhood who are facing eviction asked why they had been show so little support.
Some ISM activists accompanied representatives from the Hanoun and Al-Ghawi family, as well as from the Al-Kurd family – who currently remain in Sheikh Jarrah but must endure daily harassment and humiliation from settlers who have occupied the front room of their property – inside the UNRWA building to speak with officials.
Demanding long overdue support
Nasser Al-Ghawi with Fillipo Grandi
The families made three principal demands of the UN: firstly that they provide the full financial assistance to which the families are entitled, and which they need to pay the rent for the apartments they have lived in since being dispossessed; secondly, that the UN help them establish and maintain a presence in Sheikh Jarrah as a symbol of resistance to the injustice of the situation; and finally that they provide UN flags to families in Sheikh Jarrah still under threat of eviction – as a sign of support and in recognition that international law views such evictions as illegal.
Eventually Filippo Grandi, Commissioner General of UNRWA, spoke, saying that the UN is working in Sheikh Jarrah and similar places such as Silwan, and is maintaining a strong presence as well as pressuring Israel to hear an appeal on behalf of the families and monitoring the cases of other families threatened with eviction. However, some ISM activists and family members felt that the UN’s response was unsatisfactory.
One member of the Al-Ghawi family – who have documents proving that they own the house from which they were evicted – commented: “It’s always the same, excuses, words but almost no action. Why can’t the UN at least show they are supporting us with something as small as a flag?”
Legally unjustifiable
The eviction on August 2nd 2009 was justified on the basis of the ruling by an Israeli court which recognized the settlers claim to own the properties, based on a document dating from the Ottoman era, riddled with inconsistencies. However, the American and British consulates as well as the United Nations, condemned the eviction. The court had refused to recognize the documents the Palestinian families had provided proving their ownership, granted to them by the Jordanian government and UN. Regardless of ownership their status as refugees also grants the families protection.
Under international law Israeli settlements in East Jerusalem violate UN Security Council resolutions 465, 242, 446, 452. All measures taken by Israeli to change the character and demographic character of Jerusalem lack legal validity and its policies and practices towards this end constitute a flagrant violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention relating to the protection of civilians in conflict situation
Despite this clear position, just last week another Palestinian family were evicted from their home under similar circumstances, showing that Israel’s policy of ethnic cleansing is continuing. The attempted Judaisationof Jerusalem – spoken of explicitly by several settler groups – and its corollary, the expulsion of Palestinians, is a slow and insidious but ongoing phenomenon, which has been condemned by Israeli human rights groups ICAHD and B’Tselem as well as the United Nations Commission for Human Rights.
Solidarity gathering
Later that evening the families hosted their usual Monday night community dinner and a drumming lesson taught by an Israeli samba band and attended by around 80 people followed.
Settlers could be observed filming people from the occupied houses. They also called Israeli police and complained to them that the road was being blocked. Police loitered on the scene for a long time but did nothing.
A talk was given by a Jewish Israeli professor from Tel Aviv University, in Hebrew and Arabic, analyzing the similarities – and difference – between the Holocaust and Palestinian situation. There was also a screening of the acclaimed film Bili’in Habibti.
Just before the projection of the film a settler threw a stone into the garden but no-one was hurt.
One ISM activist said: “It’s sad that on an anniversary like this, it’s clearer than ever that Israeli policy is not changing – a new eviction in the Old City happened just last week. These evictions are illegal, and create a massive obstacle to justice and peace, as well as on an individual level making families including young children homeless in a very traumatic way.”
Today, August 2nd, marks one year since the Hanoun and al-Ghawi families were evicted from their homes in the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood of East Jerusalem at 5:30 in the morning by Israeli security forces.
A banner from a demonstration against the Sheikh Jarrah evictions.
The families, together with their Palestinian, Israeli and international supporters will mark the date with a gathering and prayer at 10:00, followed by a march to the Jerusalem municipality. They will call for an end to the injustice of evictions and to the ethnic cleansing of Jerusalem which the Israeli legal system supports.
A community dinner will be held in the evening followed by an all-night vigil.
Existence is resistance
The eviction of the two families on August 2nd 2009 caused international outcry, and was condemned by the UN, as well as the American and British consulates.
Since then both families have maintained a presence outside their houses which are occupied by extremist Israeli settlers who moved in on the same day that Israeli police evicted the Palestinians.
Daily harassment
For those Palestinians who remain, such as the al-Kurd family, who remain in their home despite the front part of their house having been occupied by settlers, daily verbal harassment and physical violence from the settlers is the norm.
A settler attacks young boy in Sheikh Jarrah
The Israeli police also exhibit a consistently discriminatory attitude towards law enforcement, along ethnic lines, so that Palestinians can expect no protection – but instead they are frequently blamed and arrested when they are the victims of violent attacks.
The anniversary falls a few days after another Palestinian family were evicted from their home under similar circumstances, and the property, near Herod’s Gate in the Old City of Jerusalem, occupied in the same manner by Israeli settlers.
History
The Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in East Jerusalem – a particularly sensitive neighbourhood due to its proximity to the Green Line – was built by the UN and Jordanian government in 1956 to house Palestinian refugees from the 1948 war. However, with the start of the Israeli occupation of East Jerusalem, following the 1967 war, settlers began claiming ownership of the land the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood was built on.
Stating that they had purchased the land from a previous Ottoman owner in the 1800s, settlers claimed ownership of the land. In 1972, settlers successfully registered this claim with the Israeli Land Registrar. An Israeli Supreme Court ruling was used to justify the eviction of the Hanoun and Al-Ghawi families.
Nasser al-Ghawi in Sheikh Jarrah
Israel occupied east Jerusalem in the 1967 Six Day War and later annexed it in a move not recognized by the international community. It sees all of Jerusalem as its “eternal, undivided” capital and is attempting to alter the demographics of the east side of the city.
For many Palestinians, however, the east of the city — home to some 200,000 Jewish Israelis and 268,000 Palestinians — should be the capital of their state.
