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Last update - 08:32 20/07/2008 Court upholds ruling to evict Palestinian family from East Jerusalem home By Akiva Eldar Tags: High Court of Justice  The High Court of Justice last week upheld a ruling for the eviction of a Palestinian family from the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of East Jerusalem, whose house is owned by religious Jews. The eviction spurred protest by senior Palestinian Authority officials, and diplomats from several consulates have already visited the house. The Khurd family has lived in the contested building since 1956, when the area was under Jordanian control. After the area came under Israel's control in 1967, the Committee of the Sephardi Jewry and the Committee of the Knesset of Israel - two religious bodies - presented the Israeli authorities with various documents showing that they had purchased the area during the Ottoman rule. The Palestinian families residing there were allowed to stay on as protected tenants, until they stopped paying rent. This prompted the owners to file for their eviction at the Jerusalem District Court, which ruled in favor of the plaintiffs from the Nachlat Shimon non-profit organization. Advertisement The family appealed to the High Court of Justice, but the justices upheld the district court's ruling. Following the ruling, Rafik Husseini, an aide to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, last week contacted a number of consulates saying that the eviction creates a legal precedent, which will allow the eviction of 25 other Palestinian families who are in the same legal situation. Since the 1990s, Nachlat Shimon, which represents land owners as they are listed in the records of Israeli authorities, has been making its presence felt in buildings surrounding the tomb of Simeon the Just (or Shimon HaTzaddik) a High Priest during the time of the Second Temple. If the family is evicted, Nachlat Shimon will take over the property. In his letter, Rafik Husseini said hundreds of Palestinian families whose legal heirs now reside in East Jerusalem own between them no less than 60 percent of the area of the western part of the capital. He went on to say that Israeli courts never ruled that any of them should receive any of their houses. Husseini called the move a drive aimed at changing the demographic and geographic conditions in the city's eastern part by replacing Palestinians with "Israeli settlers." Following Husseini's letter, diplomats from the U.S. consulate in Jerusalem visited the house, along with several other diplomats. Additionally activists from organizations such as Rabbis for Human Rights have set up protest vigils near the house, with the intention of physically preventing the eviction. Bookmark to del.icio.us   West Bank drought Palestinian Water Authority calls on Israel to rethink its water policies. Death of an artist Egyptian filmmaker's controversial work earned him international recognition.   1.   Jewish owned property 05:41  |  David 20/07/08   2.   Consequences of their failure to liquidate the Jewish State 06:09  |  Steve 20/07/08   3.   The police passivity encourages crimes in the Arab sector in... 08:30  |  Jean Van Daem 20/07/08   4.   Watch out West Jerusalem - the Arab owners will be along soon...! 09:19  |  Palestinian Brit 20/07/08   5.   so did they stop paying rent? 09:41  |  eric 20/07/08   6.   watch out east jerusalem,the jewish owners will be along soon 10:29  |  israeli brit 20/07/08   7.   Equal Rights 10:34  |  Fritz Wilke 20/07/08   8.   what a shame!!! 10:49  |  amihai 20/07/08   9.   Legal owners of property 12:01  |  MF 20/07/08   10.   If they have bought the area they should have it! 12:09  |  Ned 20/07/08   11.   #4 Pal Brit 12:17  |  Jasmine Murphy 20/07/08   12.   should have paid the rent 12:29  |  Yael 20/07/08   13.   so who will return to us our property in eretz yisrael when the R 12:37  |  sam el llanito 20/07/08   14.   This is definitely more of the israeli plan of driving out the 12:43  |  lakshmi 20/07/08   15.   This eric `something tells him no` 13:22  |  Jasmine Murphy 20/07/08   16.   No comparison 13:54  |  Carlos Murphy 20/07/08   17.   Driven out of Jerusalem Not a minute too soon. 14:57  |  Ex refugee 20/07/08   18.   jean van daem 3 15:21  |  potobac 20/07/08   19.   Fritz on Arab property in Tel Aviv #7 17:06  |  Steve 20/07/08   20.   # 15 my my my, jasmine... 01:08  |  eric 21/07/08   21.   eric in nm #5 so,you know more than the authors of the article 01:18  |  terrornator 21/07/08   22.   # 21 to tootelator re: the rent 07:34  |  eric 21/07/08   23.   eric,what does "until they stopped paying rent" mean to you? 22:16  |  terrornator 21/07/08   24.   # 23 to tootelator re: ambiguity 04:09  |  eric 23/07/08

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