For Immediate Release - November 20th, 2008
Update: The Israeli bulldozer is now creating a wall surrounding the residents who have remained on the site of the
protest tent. The wall that the Israeli forces are creating is on Palestinian owned private land.
9:30 am, East Jerusalem: Israeli forces are again dismantling the protest camp in Sheikh Jarrah, set up after the
eviction of the al- Kurd family on the 9th November.
A bulldozer arrived at the private property at 8:45am with orders to destroy the tent and the surrounding fence where
the al-Kurd family has been living since they were evicted from their home on the 9th November 2008. The camp is
situated on Palestinian-owned private property.
Yesterday the tent was also demolished, and one Palestinian and four internationals were taken into Israeli police
custody. The Palestinian resident of Sheikh Jarrah continues to be held.
The family re-constructed the tent yesterday in order to continue their protest. Today, while the fence surrounding the
private land was being bulldozed, neighbors dismantled the tent in order to save it from repeated destruction. At
present, the demolition of the fence continues as the Al-Kurd family, neighbors, and internationals are eating
breakfast.
For more information: Layla (in Jerusalem) – 0543537646 ISM Media Office – 02-2971824
The decision to remove the al-Kurd family paves the way for the takeover of 26 multi-story houses in the neighborhood,
threatening to make 500 Palestinians homeless and signifying the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians from Occupied East
Jerusalem by the Israeli State. In July the US State Department brought forward an official complaint to the Israeli
government over the eviction of the al-Kurd family, openly questioning the legality of terms on which the Israeli Jewish
settler group claimed to have purchased the land. (see www.haaretz.co.il/hasen/spages/1005342.html).
The Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in East Jerusalem was built by the UN and Jordanian government in 1956 to house
Palestinian refugees from the 1948 war. The al-Kurd family began living in the neighbourhood after having been made
refugees from Jaffa and West Jerusalem. However, with the the start of the Israeli occupation of East Jerusalem,
following the 1967 war, settlers began claiming ownership of the land the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood was build on.
Stating that they had purchased the land from a previous Ottoman owner in the 1800s, settlers claimed ownership of the
land. In 1972 settlers successfully registered this claim with the Israeli Land Registrar. While the al-Kurds family
continued legal proceedings challenging the settlers claim, the settlers started filing suits against the Palestinian
family.
In 2006, the court ruled the settlers claim void, recognizing it was based on fraudulent documents. Subsequently, the
Al-Kurd family lawyer petitioned the Israeli Land Registrar to revoke the settlers registration of the land and state
the correct owner of the land. Although it did revoke the settlers claim, the Israeli land Registrar refused to indicate
the rightful owner of the land.
In 2001 settlers began occupying an extension of the al-Kurd home. Despite the fact that their claim to the land was
revoked, settlers were given the keys of the al-Kurds family home extension by the local Israeli municipality. This was
possible after the municipality had confiscated the keys of the extension that the al-Kurd family built on their
property to house the natural expansion of the family. When this extension was declared illegal by Israeli authorities,
the Israeli municipality handed the keys over to Israeli settlers. The al-Kurd Family went to court and an eviction
order was issued against the settlers. When the al-Kurd family were evicted on the 9th November 2008, the settlers were
allowed to remain in the property, despite their own eviction order.
In July 2008 the Israeli Supreme Court ordered the eviction of the al- Kurd family, for their refusal to pay rent to the
settlers for use of the land. Although the settlers claim to the land had been revoked two years earlier, the court
instead based their decision on an agreement made between a previous lawyer and the settlers. It should be noted that
the al-Kurd family -and the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood as a whole- rejected this agreement and fired their legal
representative at the time.
ENDS
The International Solidarity Movement (ISM) is a Palestinian-led non-violent resistance movement committed to ending
Israel's illegal occupation of Palestinian land. We call for full compliance with all relevant UN resolutions and
international law.