Illegal Israeli settlers take over house in Jerusalem's Old City

Date: 02 / 04 / 2009  Time:  10:06
Jerusalem – Ma’an –

Dozens of illegal Israeli settlers backed by the Israeli occupation government police took over a Palestinian house in the Old City of Jerusalem on Thursday morning.

Ma’an’s correspondent observed settlers raiding the house of Naser Jaber, in the Al-Sa’adiyah neighborhood of the Old City. A scuffle took place between the owner and the settlers before police intervened, allowing the settlers to take control of the house and sending the owner away.

Israeli police then imposed a neighborhood lock down, prohibiting residents from entering or leaving their homes. Several youth were seized during ensuing clashes in the tense half hour between the arrival of the settlers and the total closure of the area.

Jaber went immediately to the court to put forward his case, saying he was going to demand the removal of the settlers from his residence, which is home to eight. Jaber noted that the small area of the Old City is home to seven other families and said there had been a repeated settler presence in the area over the past months.

Separately, personnel from the Israeli-controlled Jerusalem Municipality went to the Jerusalem-area village of Al-Issawiya, and handed out several demolition warnings. The men surveyed the area in preparation for the demolitions.

***Updated 12:22 Bethlehem time

Report: Israeli takeover of East Jerusalem illegal

Thursday April 02, 2009 00:51 by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC News

A confidential report from the European Union, dated March 7th, recently leaked to the media accuses Israel of “using settlement expansion, house demolitions, discriminatory housing policies and the West Bank Separation barrier to actively pursue the illegal annexation of East Jerusalem.”

Recently, Israeli officials announced plans to demolish over 2,000 Palestinian homes in East Jerusalem, an announcement that was met with anger and outrage from the Palestinian residents, many of whom have lived in East Jerusalem for scores of generations.  The new report acknowledges the recent increase in settlement expansion and the plans of the newly-formed Israeli government for the destruction of whole neighborhoods of Palestinian homes at an even greater rate.
 
The new Jerusalem mayor has announced plans to destroy huge swathes of Palestinian homes and replace them with a Disney-like biblical theme park for tourists.  Most affected are the Silwan and Sheikh Jarrah neighborhoods.
 
The EU report cites Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention that prohibits "Individual or mass forcible transfers, as well as deportations of protected persons from occupied territory...." Neither shall "The Occupying Power....deport or transfer parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies." In addition, numerous UN resolutions established "no legal validity" for settlement building or for East Jerusalem's annexation.
 
Yet settlement expansions continue at a "rapid pace" - in the past year alone plans for nearly 5500 new units have been submitted for public approval of which 3000 have already been approved.
 
The rapid takeover of Palestinian land in East Jerusalem has been taking place largely without international outcry, despite the illegality of the expansion under international law and the signed agreements between Israel and the Palestinians.
 
For a full analysis of the report, see the link below.

Israeli judge rules to continue home demolitions in East Jerusalem

Thursday April 02, 2009 00:38 by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC News

A petition presented by a Palestinian homeowner from the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in East Jerusalem was rejected by an Israeli court on Wednesday, a decision which will allow home demolitions to move forward.

The homeowner, Darwish Hijazi, presented his home ownership documents to the Israeli court, but the judge rejected the documents.  Israeli settlers moved onto Hijazi’s property several years ago, and he was unable to get rid of them or stop them from taking over his land and moving into his home.
 
Now, despite being the original homeowner and long-time resident, it is Hijazi who will be forced to move to allow the Israeli settlers, who took over parts of his home using violence and force, to remain.
 
Palestinian Authority officials said that this ruling, while unfortunate, will not prevent other cases involving Palestinian property in East Jerusalem from moving forward.
 
According to Hatim Abdul-Qadir, the Palestinian Prime Minister’s advisor on Jerusalem affairs, “The Hijazi case was separate from another case filed by the Al-Ghawi and Hannoun families against the decision to evacuate them from their homes in Sheikh Jarrah. The same documents were presented to the court in both cases, and the second case has not been decided on yet.”