Israeli police on Sunday evicted a Palestinian family from their home in the Muslim Quarter of Jerusalem’s Old City after the Israeli supreme court ruled Jewish settlers were the rightful owners.
An AFP photographer said residents of the neighborhood in occupied East Jerusalem scuffled with police, who stood guard as about a dozen Israeli settlers took possession of the large building.
The Abu Assab family lived in this home in #Jerusalem for three generations since 1952. Today, the #Israeli court decided that Hatem and Rania’s home no longer belongs to them, but to a family of illegal Israeli settlers.
She watched as they entered her home and mockingly pic.twitter.com/pIYPNGJGv2
— Rafik Sabir Gouri @@@ (@RafikSabirGour1) February 17, 2019
Rania Abu Assab, who lived in the house with her husband, their children, and his aunt, stood weeping outside as the settlers raised the Israeli flag on the roof.
She said:
“We live there, it’s my house, it’s my whole life. They took everything.”
Nearly 200 #Palestinian families in East #Jerusalem face eviction cases by #Israeli settler organizations. This eviction may amount to a forcible transfer, which is a grave breach of the fourth Geneva Convention, according to a statement by #OCHA. pic.twitter.com/mIh9QsvDK8
— Women For Palestine (@WomenForPal) February 17, 2019
She said the family was compelled to leave behind all their furniture and belongings. Her husband Hatem and son Mehdi were arrested by Israeli forces after they were physically assaulted, witnesses said.
An Israeli police spokesperson told AFP but could not say if they were subsequently released:
“They disturbed police activities.”
Today, Israeli forces evicted the #Palestinian Abu Asab family, displacing 10 people from their home in #Jerusalem.#OCHA stated that 199 Palestinian households in Jerusalem have eviction cases filed against them, placing 877 people, including 391 children,at risk of displacement pic.twitter.com/Ti2vKem6Rx
— Dr. Ramy Abdu| د. رامي عبده (@RamAbdu) February 17, 2019
Ir Amim, an Israeli watchdog group which monitors settlement activity in Jerusalem, reported on February 3 that the Abu Assab family had been served an eviction notice ordering them to vacate the property by February 28.
It said family members had lived there since the 1960s but Palestinian sources said the Abu Assab family had lived in the home for three generations since 1952.
Court allows eviction of 700 Palestinians from East Jerusalem neighborhood https://t.co/T7wIxkB8JI
— amin dada (@kambrone64) February 17, 2019
East Jerusalem was occupied during that conflict by Jordan until the 1967 Six Day War, when it was seized by Israel and subsequently annexed, moves never recognized by the international community.
There is an estimated population of around 200,000 Jewish settlers living in occupied East Jerusalem, alongside about 250,000 original Palestinian residents.
(AJE, PC, Social Media)
