New evictions of Arab families part of battle for Jerusalem

[webfact]

New evictions of Arab families part of battle for Jerusalem
By KARIN LAUB

JERUSALEM (AP) — On a recent morning, at a time of soaring Israeli-Palestinian tensions and massive police deployment in Jerusalem, security forces nonetheless found time to carry out an eviction order: Troops sealed off parts of the Arab neighborhood of Silwan and removed two families from their apartments to allow the entry of Jews named by a court as the rightful owners.

The evictions are part of a house-by-house battle waged by Jewish settler groups — at times with government support — to expand their presence in Arab neighborhoods of Jerusalem's ancient heart, an area the Palestinians seek as the core of a future capital.

Settler-driven displacement ranks high on a list of grievances linked to Israeli rule that Palestinians say helped spark the recent rash of attacks on Israelis, most of them stabbings. Israel mostly blames what it calls Palestinian incitement to violence.

Since mid-September, 10 Israelis were killed in Palestinian attacks, while 47 Palestinians — including 26 labeled by Israel as attackers — were shot dead by Israelis.

Israelis "are creating this wave of stabbings because when they pressure human beings repeatedly, then there will be nothing left but to die, to grab that knife and go for them," said Abdullah Abu Nab, 59, who was evicted Monday, along with his wife, 9-year-old twin sons and six other relatives.

Jerusalem settlement groups such as Ateret Cohanim oppose any deal to set up a Palestinian state next to Israel, on lands Israel captured in 1967, including east Jerusalem.

Some settler activists also believe that moving more Jews to east Jerusalem's Old City and adjacent Arab neighborhoods, an area known as the Holy Basin because of its major shrines and archaeological sites, will hasten religious redemption.

"It's basically Zionism unfolding and a redemption process moving forward," said Daniel Luria of Ateret Cohanim, one of the groups active in Silwan.

Israeli groups opposed to Jewish settlement on war-won lands say settler groups are trying to scuttle any partition of Jerusalem.

"They want to change the character of the Palestinian neighborhoods around the Old City ... and to make it more Jewish, so eventually it will be hard, not to say impossible, for the Israeli government to compromise over it," said Hagit Ofran of the advocacy group Peace Now.

"It seems that the cooperation (of the settlers) with the authorities became much stronger in recent years," she added.

Activists said settlers and their backers have employed a range of methods.

This includes going to court to reclaim properties once owned by Jews in areas captured in 1967, an option not open to Palestinians who lost homes or lands in what is now Israel.

Activists said some state agencies have also sold or leased properties to settler groups without tenders.

In another part of Silwan, the government gave the settler group Elad the right to run archaeological sites that highlight ancient Jewish roots in the area.

Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev did not comment on specific allegations.

"The whole idea that Jews should be forbidden from buying property in any parts of Jerusalem is unacceptable," he said.

Between 2,000 and 2,500 Jews have moved to Arab neighborhoods in the Old City and adjacent areas since 1967, said Ir Amim, a group that promotes an equitable solution for Jerusalem.

In addition, some 200,000 Israelis live in settlements Israel built in east Jerusalem after 1967. Israel annexed east Jerusalem, a move not recognized internationally, and considers the settlements neighborhoods of its capital.

Jerusalem has about 850,000 residents, more than one-third of them Palestinians who complain of long-standing official discrimination, including over housing rights.

This week's eviction took place in a densely populated part of Silwan known as Batan al-Hawah. Perched on a steep slope, it offers a spectacular view of the Old City, including the rectangular hilltop shrine revered by Muslims as the spot where Prophet Muhammad ascended to heaven and by Jews as the home of their biblical Temples.

Yemenite Jewish families — at one point as many as 144 — lived in the area for about half a century, starting in the 1880s, said Luria. Their numbers gradually dwindled and the last 35 families were driven out during an Arab uprising against British rule and Jewish immigration.

Part of the Yemenite village was established on land bought for the community by Jewish philanthropists, Luria said. Communal property, including a synagogue, was run by what was known as the Benvenisti Trust.

Israeli courts have ruled that the building from which the Abu Nabs were evicted — the synagogue, according to Luria — belonged to the trust.

Abu Nab's lawyer, Mohammed Dahle, said the Abu Nabs were protected tenants, having lived in the building for decades, and should not have been evicted. He questioned Jewish ownership claims, saying his team is trying to track down old land documents.

On Monday morning, security forces accompanied by dogs sealed off the neighborhood and removed the Abu Nab family from two apartments, said community activist Zohair al-Rajabi.

By Tuesday, an Israeli flag fluttered from the rooftop.

Security guards carried new swivel chairs, still wrapped plastic, into the building. Several men, some welding in the courtyard, erected fences around the building.

They would not speak to reporters and referred questions to Ateret Cohanim.

Abdullah Abu Nab, his wife Fatima and sons Mahmoud and Mohammed moved into an apartment just down the narrow street, arranged by local activists. Much of his furniture was damaged — according to him in a spiteful act by the Israeli forces.

Settlers live in six nearby buildings with multiple apartments. The latest evictions fueled fears that more Palestinians will be forced out.

Several dozen Palestinian housing units are under threat, said Aviv Tatarsky of Ir Amim.

This includes those built on land released to the Benvenisti Trust in 2002 by the General Custodian, a department in the Justice Ministry that deals with unclaimed property, he said. Four years later, the Custodian sold four nearby plots to Ateret Cohanim without a tender, he added.

Several Palestinian families facing legal pressures have left their apartments in recent months, apparently in compensation deals with Ateret Cohanim, al-Rajabi said.

The community organizer said he is aware of legal action against the buildings of seven extended families with a total of 29 apartments. His own family building with seven apartments is among those under threat, he said.

Avi Segal, a lawyer representing both the Benvenisti trust and Ateret Cohanim, said the trust "will continue to use legal and peaceful means to reclaim its properties and re-establish Jewish life in the old Shiloach Village." He did not elaborate in his response to emailed questions.

A growing settler presence, accompanied by more security guards, will increasingly disrupt life in Batan al-Hawah, said al-Rajabi.

The area has been neglected by the city for decades, even though residents pay municipal taxes, al-Rajabi said. Potholed alleys are so narrow only one car can pass at a time. Garbage covers overgrown lots, streets and stairways linking homes built into the slope.

Luria dismissed the residents' fears of expulsion, saying Muslims and Christians can live under Jewish sovereignty, but that they "have to internalize that there is a Jewish state for Jewish people." He blamed tensions in Jerusalem on what he said was Arab incitement and "total non-acceptance of any Jewish state in this region."

Ofran from Peace Now said she fears the neighborhood would undergo rapid changes, similar to the West Bank city of Hebron, where several hundred settlers in heavily guarded enclaves dominate the ancient center.

"Five years from now, if we can't stop it, Batan al-Hawah will be a whole different place," she said.
___

Associated Press writer Mohammed Daraghmeh in Ramallah, West Bank, contributed to this report.


-- (c) Associated Press 2015-10-22

[Seastallion]

"This includes going to court to reclaim properties once owned by Jews in areas captured in 1967, an option not open to Palestinians who lost homes or lands in what is now Israel."

Legal options for Jews not available to Palestinians. Apartheid.

[Lopchan]

Isn't it wonderful how anyone who opposes the hypocritical, aggressive, tyrannical and genocidal antics of Israel is automatically labeled a "jew hater" Yet anyone who sides with them is obviously a level head good person. These level headed good people will not even enter into civilized discussion, instead they hide behind the sympathy machine's catch-cry of "you are a jew hater!" or trot out the very tired "remember the holocaust.....70 years ago" I suppose it is not really surprising that they don't engage in reasonable discussion, after all, there is NO justification for the holocaust israel is now waging not so surreptitiously against the Palestinians or any other non-jewish nation, meaning they'd lose the argument.

Great to see that the years of brainwashing from israel and its sycophants makes your life so complete.

Said it before and will say it again GET OUT OF PALESTINIAN TERRITORY

[Jingthing]

Israel is not waging a holocaust. Never has. Isn't now. Never will. Israel demonizers love to spread hateful lies that Israel is equivalent to Nazi Germany for obvious trollish reasons.

[DaddyWarbucks]

Israel is not waging a holocaust. Never has. Isn't now. Never will. Israel demonizers love to spread hateful lies that Israel is equivalent to Nazi Germany for obvious trollish reasons.

A comparison to Nazi Germany is inevitable when any country expands its territory at the expense of its neighbours.

The Germans called it "lebensraum", the Zionists call it "Eretz Israel."

Different names for the same thing.

[Johpa]

These nutcases at Ateret Cohanim even make the nutcases I knew from Yeshivat Hakotel look moderate. And it was the nutcases at Yeshivat Hakotel whose actions, and support of, the original illegal settlements in the occupied territories (השטחים)initiated the true first intifada back in the late 1970s (not in the 1980s as most erroneously claim). And they wonder why I am so pessimistic.

And for you few out there, dros da dos, which might be translated more politely as get rid of the ultra-orthodox.

[Seastallion]

These nutcases at Ateret Cohanim even make the nutcases I knew from Yeshivat Hakotel look moderate. And it was the nutcases at Yeshivat Hakotel whose actions, and support of, the original illegal settlements in the occupied territories (השטחים)initiated the true first intifada back in the late 1970s (not in the 1980s as most erroneously claim). And they wonder why I am so pessimistic. And for you few out there, dros da dos, which might be translated more politely as get rid of the ultra-orthodox.

Get rid of the crazy puritanical zealots of any religion.

[Scott]

Some inflammatory posts and replies removed.

Please stay on topic.

[Somtamnication]

Can't wait for the Israeli backers to justify THIS one.

[Seastallion]

Can't wait for the Israeli backers to justify THIS one.

God promised them this land. Just doing God's will.

[sendintheclowns]

Israel is not waging a holocaust. Never has. Isn't now. Never will. Israel demonizers love to spread hateful lies that Israel is equivalent to Nazi Germany for obvious trollish reasons.

Comedy gold, since this week Bibi says that Hitler wa a nice guy, ' he only wanted to move the Jews; if was the Muslim chief cleric, the Mufti, who suggested, we don't want them in Palastine, why don't you burn them?'

[Jingthing]

Israel is not waging a holocaust. Never has. Isn't now. Never will. Israel demonizers love to spread hateful lies that Israel is equivalent to Nazi Germany for obvious trollish reasons.

Comedy gold, since this week Bibi says that Hitler wa a nice guy, ' he only wanted to move the Jews; if was the Muslim chief cleric, the Mufti, who suggested, we don't want them in Palastine, why don't you burn them?'

I've already commented on that extensively on other threads. I very much oppose what he said so it's obscene to me that by replying to my post with that tripe you are implicitly accusing me of being associated in some way with his idiotic words. Not so.

This topic has nothing to do with that so suggest you have a look at those threads that do.

It is intolerable that every post going forward forever that mentions the holocaust is going to invite off topic references to Netanyahu's bizarre statement. He is one Jew. His one incorrect revisionist statement has not changed the actual history of the holocaust.

Edited October 23, 2015 by Jingthing

[Johpa]

Can't wait for the Israeli backers to justify THIS one.

God promised them this land. Just doing God's will.

Both sides are engaged in "god's will". Whether its the Likud's vote grabbing endorsement of some mythical greater Israel or the Islamic jihad against non-believers, and it is Jihad that is a major factor in the mythical creation of the Palestinian State, the conflict all boils down to the perceived demented will of some invisible Zeus-like god in the sky.

[Scott]

Off-topic, inflammatory, troll posts and replies removed.

[Soutpeel]

Can't wait for the Israeli backers to justify THIS one.

God promised them this land. Just doing God's will.

Both sides are engaged in "god's will". Whether its the Likud's vote grabbing endorsement of some mythical greater Israel or the Islamic jihad against non-believers, and it is Jihad that is a major factor in the mythical creation of the Palestinian State, the conflict all boils down to the perceived demented will of some invisible Zeus-like god in the sky.

And this is the saddest part....fighting /arguing and killing each other over a man in the sky and fairy stories..the ancient aliens do have a lot to answer for

You can just imagine it..the aliens looking down on this and Mr Alien says to Mrs Alien...see Ethel...see what your toilet stop on earth 6000 years ago has caused, i told you to go the toilet before we left the house

[Lopchan]

Israel is not waging a holocaust. Never has. Isn't now. Never will. Israel demonizers love to spread hateful lies that Israel is equivalent to Nazi Germany for obvious trollish reasons.

And you just proved my point did you not?

[Jingthing]

Israel is not waging a holocaust. Never has. Isn't now. Never will. Israel demonizers love to spread hateful lies that Israel is equivalent to Nazi Germany for obvious trollish reasons.

And you just proved my point did you not?

Not at all. The Israel demonization agenda has no interest in proof or logic. Suggesting that Israel is equivalent to Nazi Germany is obviously false and simply designed to INFLAME. To you personally, I have no interest in being further baited with such weak "arguments" -- so welcome to my ignore list.

Edited October 24, 2015 by Jingthing

[OMGImInPattaya]

Shouldn't the headline be "Zionist Regime Starts Jerusalem Ethnic Cleansing Campaign. "

[Seastallion]

Shouldn't the headline be "Zionist Regime Starts Jerusalem Ethnic Cleansing Campaign. "

Starts Continues.

[Soutpeel]

Shouldn't the headline be "Zionist Regime Starts Jerusalem Ethnic Cleansing Campaign. "

"Forced removals" ?

[Johpa]

Shouldn't the headline be "Zionist Regime Starts Jerusalem Ethnic Cleansing Campaign. "

Starts Continues.

Oh please, there is plenty to criticize with Israeli policies. But there is nothing happening that can even remotely be deemed "ethnic cleansing". Such ridiculous rhetoric only impedes dialog and further condemns the conundrum to a stalemate status. And such inappropriate rhetoric demeans those who died and suffered from true campaigns of ethnic cleansing throughout history.

[HenryB]

Israel is not waging a holocaust. Never has. Isn't now. Never will. Israel demonizers love to spread hateful lies that Israel is equivalent to Nazi Germany for obvious trollish reasons.

A comparison to Nazi Germany is inevitable when any country expands its territory at the expense of its neighbours.

The Germans called it "lebensraum", the Zionists call it "Eretz Israel."

Different names for the same thing.

The Germans started the State of Israel by killing the Jews

Now their good friends the Muslims Arabs will finished Germany

Edited October 24, 2015 by HenryB

[Johpa]

A comparison to Nazi Germany is inevitable when any country expands its territory at the expense of its neighbours.

The Germans called it "lebensraum", the Zionists call it "Eretz Israel."

Different names for the same thing.

More ridiculous rhetoric. The Nazis are not going down in history nor did they gain their modern day notoriety for their territorial expansionist policies. I am highly critical of Israeli settlements into the territories. I even think that an forced withdrawal of the settlements in and around Hebron would be a good first symbolic step by Israel, much as they did in Gaza, even if it is all for naught as it was in Gaza. But I have sufficient historical awareness to avoid making these ridiculous, simplistic comparisons.

One does not hear such inane comparisons applied to the Russians, nor the Han Chinese, nor even Theodore Roosevelt and the rest of the Americans who fervently believed in the nonsense of manifest destiny. All of those folks were major proponents of expansion of territory that makes the Israeli expansionist movement look paltry in comparison. The neighboring Burmese Tatmadaw, with far more prejudice than shown by even the most bone-headed Israeli actions, does not even garner such comparisons. And you then wonder why some question, rightly or wrongly, the underlying motives being expressed here.

[Jingthing]

It's well beyond questioning the motivations. In many cases here, the motivations are explicitly obvious.

[konying]

So courts evict 1 family from 2 apartments and Arab & Co lovers jump to ethnic cleansing.

They did not gas them or murder them, they just moved down the ally.

As clearly pointed out this property belonged to a trust.

Then arabs complain about this part of the city NOT being looked after, yet they are the ones dumping the rubbish and turning it into swaps, just as they do all over the world.

Go visit any arab area starting from Sydney in Australia to Paris to Amsterdam.absolute dumps.

And now they fear, that in 5 years it will not be the same, but clean and flourishing? Yeah that would be a real tragedy.

They supposedly want to live in peace with Jews, yet can not stand to live among jews? pack up and go live in all arab country,

Then this arab claims his furniture was damaged, well next time hire a removalist or get the entire family to move it, instead of thinking to pick up a knife.

[Seastallion]

Shouldn't the headline be "Zionist Regime Starts Jerusalem Ethnic Cleansing Campaign. "

Starts Continues.

Oh please, there is plenty to criticize with Israeli policies. But there is nothing happening that can even remotely be deemed "ethnic cleansing". Such ridiculous rhetoric only impedes dialog and further condemns the conundrum to a stalemate status. And such inappropriate rhetoric demeans those who died and suffered from true campaigns of ethnic cleansing throughout history.

The OP relates one story that is a symptom of stealthy ethnic cleansing. Ethnic, because it is based on ethnicity, cleansing because it clears people out of an area (based on their ethnicity).

You may read the term "ethnic cleansing" and drum up imagery of Hutus and Tutsis, Tasmanian settlers and Tasmanian Aborigines etc. But the term is not limited to connotations of massacres.

Israel is indeed gradually shifting the Arabs out and not letting them back in. The OP cites just one example of how they do this "legally": Jews can sue for property rights, Arabs can not. No strike with a sword, but with the stroke of a pen a "law" is passed, and hey presto! Jews can evict Palestinians and Palestinians have no legal recourse for property that they owned historically. It's gradually clearing them out of Jerusalem, and it is a deliberate plan. It is ethnic cleansing.

What's happening with the settlements is the same thing: Expand the reach, force Palestinians further and further away from the water sources and from the most arable land. Make their lives intolerable, hope that they move.

[Ulysses G.]

Israel is indeed gradually shifting the Arabs out and not letting them back in.

Of course. The Arabs started the conflict in the first place, refused the UN deal that would have given them their own country, declared war on Israel over and over again and have refused peace offers for almost 70 years. Actions have consequences and the Palestinians are going to find that out.

Edited October 25, 2015 by Ulysses G.

[Johpa]

Shouldn't the headline be "Zionist Regime Starts Jerusalem Ethnic Cleansing Campaign. "

Starts Continues.

Oh please, there is plenty to criticize with Israeli policies. But there is nothing happening that can even remotely be deemed "ethnic cleansing". Such ridiculous rhetoric only impedes dialog and further condemns the conundrum to a stalemate status. And such inappropriate rhetoric demeans those who died and suffered from true campaigns of ethnic cleansing throughout history.

The OP relates one story that is a symptom of stealthy ethnic cleansing. Ethnic, because it is based on ethnicity, cleansing because it clears people out of an area (based on their ethnicity).

You may read the term "ethnic cleansing" and drum up imagery of Hutus and Tutsis, Tasmanian settlers and Tasmanian Aborigines etc. But the term is not limited to connotations of massacres.

Balderdash. The term ethnic cleansing, in the minds of most people, refers exactly to things such as Nazi exterminations, Rwanda, and other such horrors. Not that I can prevent you from extrapolating the meaning to include other distasteful events, but I still posit that such extrapolations demean those who suffered from mass massacres. We perhaps will have to respectfully disagree on this point.

[Steely Dan]

From the op, as evidently some of our esteemed members didn't even read it.

Yemenite Jewish families — at one point as many as 144 — lived in the area for about half a century, starting in the 1880s, said Luria. Their numbers gradually dwindled and the last 35 families were driven out during an Arab uprising against British rule and Jewish immigration.

Part of the Yemenite village was established on land bought for the community by Jewish philanthropists, Luria said. Communal property, including a synagogue, was run by what was known as the Benvenisti Trust.

Israeli courts have ruled that the building from which the Abu Nabs were evicted — the synagogue, according to Luria — belonged to the trust.

So the Yemeni Jews and their descendants were ruled to have legal ownership on account of them being driven out by Palestinian violence, which has seldom stopped in a century. The courts have ruled in the past in favour of Palestinian claims, when they do no acknowledgment is made by Israel demonizers that this is a sign of a functioning democracy, but when courts rule the other way they scream apartheid.

How very telling.

[Steely Dan]

Shouldn't the headline be "Zionist Regime Starts Jerusalem Ethnic Cleansing Campaign. "

You are obviously somewhat confused, to put it mildly. Look at the Christian or Jewish populations and what became of them throughout the entire Middle East and you can see what ethnic cleansing really is. Whereas the Palestinian Muslim population grows rapidly, as some esteemed members are happy to acknowledge, whilst the Christian population of Israel has risen four fold since 1948.