Jerusalem: Two families of Arab squatters quietly evicted
Two Arab families who were squatting in Jewish-owned homes in the Shimon haTzadik neighborhood were quietly evicted this morning after the Supreme Court ruled that their ownership documents were forged. The Shimon haTzadik neighborhood is the Hebrew name for Sheikh Jarrah, home of the Shepherd Hotel (pictured). Two Arab families were evicted from Jewish-owned homes in the Shimon HaTzaddik neighborhood of Jerusalem on Sunday morning. The evictions took place following a Supreme Court ruling in which the court found in favor of Jewish families who claimed ownership of homes in the area.Well, the evictions may have gone quietly today, but here's betting that the US State Department will have something to say about it on Monday - if not sooner. Having lost in the Israeli Supreme Court, the Arabs have already said that they would appeal to the Europeans and the Americans.
The evictions took place without unusual disturbances, police said.
The Arab families claimed that they owned the houses in which they lived. Jewish families argued that they were the legal owners of the homes, and that the Arabs had squatted there illegally in an attempt to wrest control of the property from its rightful owners.
The Arab families presented documents that appeared to show Arab ownership of the homes dating back to the Ottoman period. However, the court found that the documents had been forged, and that the documents presented by the Jewish plaintiffs were legitimate.
The neighborhood in question is located near the 2,000-year-old gravesite of the sage Shimon HaTzaddik. The neighborhood was founded in the first half of the 20th century by Jewish families, but fell under Jordanian rule following the 1948 War of Independence and was quickly populated by Jordanian Arabs.
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 6:16 PM
5 Comments:
If the Americans and Europeans think they are more impartial than the Israel Supreme Court, that will lower their standing even more in Israeli eyes. The truth is Jews have better title to the property in Shimon HaTzaddik than the Arabs and there is nothing to prevent their lawful use of both the land and the property as they see fit. The only controversy is one manufactured for political reasons.
What could go wrong indeed
in no foreign newscast is mention that the properties in question were jewish owned before 1948 and stolen by the Jordanians in cohoots with the UN afterwards....
The same UN that sees nothing wrong with Arab theft of Jewish property, And the foreign reports on the issue do not mention the context to the evictions and why they took place. If you didn't know the history of the neighborhood, you would assume the Arabs got the short end of the bargain. As often, the truth is exactly the opposite in this situation.
Well, usually I find your posts insightful and sometimes even eye-opening, but I have to confess, this one was very much expected - still a great post, just not earth-shaking.
No, I don't think that the world will accept quietly what the Israeli courts labored over, nor do I expect them to accept that Israeli courts practiced due process and justice and fairly ruled for the proper owners.
Let the americans give back land to the indians.
Post a Comment
<< Home