After receiving eviction notices last May, three Palestinian families constituting 53 people, including 20 children, were forcibly removed from their homes under High Court order at dawn on Sunday August 2. The Hanouns, the Rawis and the al-Ghawis, all families who fled their homes in West Jerusalem and became refugees during the 1948 War, have been living in their houses since 1956, when Jordan reached an agreement with UNRWA to resettle them.
They are now living on the streets, homeless. Just a week ago they were living inside their home and now there are Jewish settlers inside, exhibiting not the least bit of remorse for the homeless family just outside. The Hanoun family’s furniture was seized by Israeli forces and they are now responsible for paying the storage and mover fees. Meanwhile, the Jewish settlers are living with round-the-clock security, not allowing anyone near. At one house, the police actually had the nerve to tell us not to film too close, as we should respect the privacy of the new residents.
This is just one of several plans by various real estate groups such as Nahalat Shimon International and American businessmen such as Irving Moskowitz, to populate the areas surrounding the Old City with Jewish strongholds that sever Palestinian territorial contiguity in East Jerusalem. This prejudices any final resolution in which East Jerusalem would be the Palestinian capital. It is also in clear breach of Israel’s commitment under the Road Map. But these operations are backed by the Israel Lands Administration, the Jerusalem Municipality and the Israeli government, who are all working together to undermine any possibility for a two-state solution and are blatantly infringing on the basic human rights of the residents of what they deem to be the “united Jerusalem.”
#1 by daniel on August 3rd, 2009
how can Jews remove people from their homes? what light to other nations are we setting. in my view, this is a similar mentality that removed us from our homes so many times and if anything, we should understand the pain of being home-less… in exile…. we should be able to understand this more than other peoples. as a zionist and someone who believes in israel, this is very hard to sit with… very hard. i didnt uproot my life from my home to move here to remove people from their homes. i understand it’s not all of israel.. not everyone is a settler. not everyone is like this. but at the same time, this is our army, this our police, acting this inhumanely. what can be done?
#2 by Stewart Mills on August 3rd, 2009
Thank you so much Joseph and Mairav for this website.
We see little in the western news to show what life is like on the ground in the West Bank.
Your website is helping to overcome this.
Toda raba!
#3 by Hussein Dabajeh on August 3rd, 2009
It’s just disgusting that the world can sit back and watch innocent people get thrown out their homes for no apparent reason. After watching this video I would like The country of Israel to give the world one good reason why the Palestinians shouldn’t retaliate. The citizens of Israel should stand up to their government, or peace will never come to this region of the world. A man in the video states that the arabs have 22 countries, and the Jews only have 1, the arabs have 22 countries that allow people of different religous beliefs to live freely. Unlike Israel which treats the Jews fairly and looks at Muslims as animals, treating the Muslims just as Hitler treated the Jews through out the holocaust. Instead of looking at the Palestinians as terrorists people around the world need to open their eyes and realize what these Palestinians are going through
As for the people that put this website together, you’re doing a great job bringing the truth out, I will support and broadcast this website as much as I possibly can, Zionists living in America have Fox News, CNN, and MSNBC lying for them, the Palestinians living in America now have http://www.josephdana.com supporting them with the truth, thank you.
#4 by Steve on August 4th, 2009
I incorporated this brilliant post and video in the following…
http://desertpeace.wordpress.com/2009/08/04/regarding-the-jerusalem-evictions-has-israel-finally-gone-too-far/
Thanks Joseph!
#5 by me on August 4th, 2009
“the arabs have 22 countries that allow people of different religous beliefs to live freely”
You haven’t been to Saudi Arabia, I presume?
#6 by Herbert Kaine on August 6th, 2009
Why are Jews living in Jerusalem any more inflammatory then Jews living in Beachwood, Ohio or Greenwich, Conn? By the way, can anyone tell me the location of the mikveh in Mecca? I need to know this for my next trip there
#7 by andie on August 11th, 2009
Jews living in Beachwood and Greenwich are not likely to be religious fanatics and are aware that a lot of Americans own guns. That’s why.