Israel seizes Palestinian private property in Sheikh Jarrah

Israeli supreme court ordered late Sunday the confiscation of a property in the Palestinian neighbourhood of Sheikh Jarrah in Jerusalem.

The property in question is a privately-owned piece of land at the entry of Sheikh Jarrah, belonging to four Palestinian families from Jerusalem.

Kamal Ubeidat, the Palestinian lawyer representing the owners, told the media on Sunday that the 4,700 square metre land had been confiscated for the benefit of the Israeli municipality.

"For more than twenty years Israeli authorities have been imposing fees on the families to force them to sell their land," he said, stressing that "the families will not accept any indemnity whatsoever".

Israeli authorities seized 4,700 square meters of land plots in Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in occupied Jerusalem.

While Israel alleges it wants to build parks, their real aim is to change its historic Arab & Islamic character as well as to Judaise it. pic.twitter.com/EZwiYgq401

— Friends of Palestine 🇵🇸 (@PalFriends2020) November 1, 2021

Hashem Salaymeh, a member of Sheikh Jarrah's council, told The New Arab that the location of the property at the entrance of Sheikh Jarrah and the seizure being carried out on behalf of the municipality, and not settlers, makes this "extremely damaging to us".

"This sends a message that Sheikh Jarrah is being targeted by all Israeli actors, the government, the municipality and private settlers alike. This makes Sheikh Jarrah’s case even more complicated," he said.

Congresswomen Pressley & Ocasio-Cortez described Israel as an “apartheid state” and even newcomer Representative Marie Newman (D-IL) called on the State Department to condemn the ethnic cleansing of Sheikh Jarrah as a violation of international law https://t.co/zcYtzsWBuA

— Al-Shabaka الشبكة (@AlShabaka) October 31, 2021

The Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood has been in the centre of tensions between Palestinians in Jerusalem and  Israeli authorities in recent months.

More than 20 families in the neighbourhood are facing over 65 eviction orders issued by Israeli courts for the benefit of Israeli settlers, based on widely disputed claims that the homes are built on property owned by Jews over a century ago.

Israeli settlers occupy part of the neighbourhood and clash with residents almost on a daily basis. Last May, four of the families at Sheikh Jarrah were facing imminent eviction, which sparked a wave of protests across the West Bank and among Palestinian citizens of Israel, leading to a mass-general strike and a military escalation between Israel and Palestinian factions in the Gaza Strip.