2 August 2009: Israeli forces have evicted the Hanoun and al-Ghawe families from their homes.
At around 5:30 in the morning, Israeli police arrived at the Hannoun family home and broke into the house through the
windows. They forcefully removed Maher Hanoun, his wife Nadia and their 3 children. The police violently separated the
family from the international and Israeli solidarity activists that were staying in the home. Police then arrested the
international and Israeli solidarity activists that were staying with the family. Similarly, Israeli police came into
the al-Ghawe family home at 5:30am and removed the family and internationals staying in the home.
Settlers arrived with a truck and began to move the al-Gwahe Hannoun family possessions out of their home. Everyone
outside of the house was forced across the street, away from the house.
According to eyewitnesses, Israeli forces beat a Palestinian male who was trying to intervene when police were yelling
at an elderly Palestinian woman. Additionally, media personnel were pushed around by police when they were trying to get
close to the evicted Sheikh Jarrah homes.
Amongst those arrested are at least 7 international activists and 1 Israeli activist. They are scheduled to be brought
to court in Jerusalem at 11am.
"Despite condemnation from the international community about the evictions of my neighborhood, Sheikh Jarrah, the
Israeli government continues to pursue the ethnic cleansing of East Jerusalem. My family were refugees from 1948 and now
we have become refugees again. We were forced out of homes to make way for settlers, contrary to international law. The
legal case that residents presented in court included an Ottoman-era document which discounts the settler associations
claim of ownership over Sheikh Jarrah land and homes. But the unjust policies of Israel to judaize East Jerusalem render
our legal proof of ownership irrelevant."
-Maher Hannoun, Palestinian resident of Sheikh Jarrah
"I woke up to the sound of a brick through the front window. By the time I could get up, I was being pushed out the door
by Israeli forces. They wouldn't allow me to take my wheelchair and were physically violent towards me and the others in
the Hannoun house. The unjust policies of the Israeli government are not just written documents, they affect real
families. The government has made the Hannoun and al-Ghawe families homeless, and their only crime is being Palestinian
in a system that is racist against them."
-Jody McIntyre, a British solidarity activist
ENDS