Israel court rules against evicting two East Jerusalem Palestinian families
Judges reject claims that the homes had been sold to new owners who wanted the Palestinian families out.
By Nir Hasson Tags: Palestinians East JerusalemThe Jerusalem Magistrate's Court has rejected two separate lawsuits seeking the eviction of two Palestinian families from homes in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan.
In both cases, the plaintiff said the homes had been sold to new owners who wanted the Palestinian families out. Two judges rejected those claims Thursday.
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The Faraj family in the home owned by the Yad Yaffe organization. The court ruled the family are protected tenants. |
| Photo by: Michal Fattal |
The lawsuits were filed by two groups closely linked to Elad, an organization supporting Jewish settlement in the area, and to Elad chairman David Be'eri, who is also the Israel representative of one of the groups seeking the eviction.
"Elad and its chief are doing their best, and using all methods possible to Judaize Silwan," said Muhammad Dahleh, who represented the Palestinian families in both cases. "They use various judicial entities such as a company registered in a God-forsaken Caribbean island. Only the steadfastness of the local inhabitants and their supporters, and a public and judicial struggle, can stop the explosive situation from deteriorating only a few yards from Al-Aqsa."
One of the suits was filed by Lowell Investments, which is registered in Australia's Cocos (Keeling ) Islands and already owns several buildings in Silwan.
The company said a member of the Karin family had sold it the house, and presented the court with an audio recording of an elderly member of the family who said the house was owned by the man who sold it.
But Judge Yechskiel Barkali ruled that at best, the seller owned a 16th of the house and said the tape did not prove that he was the sole owner.
The court annulled the sale agreement and awarded the family with court expenses and attorney fees of NIS 23,200.
Second win for Palestinians
The other suit was filed by Yad Yaffe, a nonprofit organization registered as focusing on "research of the Bible, the Mishna and the Talmud." The association sought to evict the Faraj family from an area next to the City of David, saying it had bought the house and the Palestinian family had moved in illegally.
Judge Rachel Shalev-Gertel ruled that the family was protected by the Tennant Protection Law and criticized Be'eri's testimony, saying it was "tendentious, and ignored facts that he was naturally aware of."
The plaintiffs were represented by Zeev Scharf, a lawyer who has previously represented Elad.
The group said those who have the right to the property would study the rulings and act accordingly.
"Because of the obvious sensitivity," the group said, "Elad does not speak publicly about real estate deals it is involved in."
In another recent ruling, the Jerusalem Magistrate's Court ordered Emek Shaveh, a group of archaeologists that regularly criticizes Elad, to pay Elad NIS 1,000 in a libel suit.
Elad had sought NIS 1 million.
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They are an enemy of the Greater Israel project.
Labhras, you must be sick and should seek help
Why didn't you publish all palestinian families that have been evicted, or their home destroyed?
The state of Israel is not only demolishing palestinian houses,they are also beating,chaining and jailing children from 12 yrs and up.Defence for Children International(DCI) has in a report to UN claimed that about 700 CHILDREN was yearly (2008 and 2009) arrested by IDF.The report tells about nightly raids to family homes where the inhabitants were harrassed and humiliated,and personal belongings were smashed.Without explanation they are strapped and hooded,beaten and kicked and taken to interrogation centers.They are denied food and water and access to toilet and sanitary facilities.No sleep for long periods of time,and they have been subdued to extreme heat or cold conditions.The children can be kept in captivity in israeli prisons for monthswithout contact with family or lawyer.Between 2001 and 2008 there has been filed more than six hundred complaints of mistreatment and torture of palestinian children.So far not ONE has been investigated.And Israel calls itself a DEMOCRACY??????
Next time try citing credible figures from a non-biased organization.
The judge must be drunk or cross-eyed : )
hey Nat, you may want to read the article once more , slowly , take the time to absorb the words......then read your post 3 times. wow, scary how you missed the entire jist of the article
Read the article, and you will see that the court ruled IN FAVOUR of the palestinians, as they frequently do by the way.
The Oslo accord say it is an part of Israel.
All Palestinian territory is occupied by Israel ---ergo cannot be part of Israel. Well done---keep up the good work fella.
Ummm, so much for the unfair and racist Israelis Ehh? I wonder what an Arab court would decide if it were an Jewish Family?
This is indeed shocking.
Maybe it is because the whole world is watching now?
There has been far too much harassment of innocent Palastinians in East Jerusalem, and in Silwan in particular. What would happen to all the current tenants in Bak'a and Talbieh, if the original Arab house-owners returned with sharp international lawyers to reclaim their property?
Chaim: be real and honest. the plaintiffs were running a sham / shell game using bogus companies as fronts to attack legitimate property rights. IN the words of US Congressman Barney Frank: " what planet are you on?"
Isn't that called lying? Isn't Be'eri nothing but a liar and a fraud? Now sue me.
If you are an Arab, you can always claim, the house was never sold. And the Supreme Court of Israel will always believe you.
Maybe if there were some record of the money actually being transferred and received by the family and some proof of a title deed quitclaim being signed by an owner of record, and a title insurance policy being issued. Faking up some bank record from a secret banking and tax dodge haven is not evidence.
In the two cases Arabs have illegally squatted in the homes in question. This is a common experience in Israel. I understand Squatter rights, this is the crux of the entire conflict. The Arabs have squatter rights here and this creates a sensitive issue when asking them to leave. I understand how courts want to show compassion with squatters, but does so in sacrificing the legal rights of the owners.
you are sir..and Israel has no claim to any aprt of Jerusalem..period. GET OUT!
Who are you calling an illegal squatter.
The courts have become the last refuge of Israeli decency. Bibi will have to do something about that.
Will this have any practical consequences or is it just another paper victory?
what kind of evidence is that? where are the contracts? where is the proof of payment? where are the witnesses to the contract and notary?
The courts of Israel are making a heroic stand against injustice at what must be great personal risk to their lives, let alone their careers. Courage like that deserves praise and we should be effusive in our praise of them for as long as they are allowed to hold their seats on the bench.
"What must be great personal risk to their lives" Why do you make up such utter nonsense? You make comments which "must be from great personal hatred of Jews"
Sir, there is no hatred of Jews, but their is a strong, and rightful disdain for Zionism. There is a world of difference..learn it.
Evicting families is inhuman, even Jews in WB should not be evicted, balestinians can voluntarily be relocated to Jordan or Egypt, i think they can be enticed to agree if they get some good sum.
Better to the great West Sahara of Africa, where he has time to think of his foolish thinking!
Based on the price of gold from the date of the alleged purchase.
I think that is more than Arabs gave Jews when they cleansed them from their homes.
An Arab from the West Bank can't buy land in Tel Aviv, Haifa, West Jerusalem. Are you saying that the Jews are a race of people and the Arabs are not human beings, so that's why you forgot the Arabs can't buy land?
You want to live there because you believe it to be yours and no other reason. In your mind if a Jew owns property there it becomes part of Israel.
Under the Geneva Conventions, Israelis cannot obtain land that is under occupation by Israeli forces that had been conquered.
Knowledge is power----in the long run.
Knowledge is power----in the long run.
The Geneva Conventions are not relevant to Israel's control of the West Bank. That fact has been proven by those who wrote them and by the fact that the creation of subsequent Conventions based on the Geneva Conventions had to appealed in order to specify Israel's status wrt the WB. Unfortunately you just repeat the political rhetoric of anti-Zionists.
I DID NOT THINK THEY HAD IT IN THEM. THOSE FACES IN THIS PICTURE ARE HUMAN BEINGS THAT LOVE THEIR FAMILIES. JUST LIKE YOU JEWS LOVE YOUR FAMILIES. MAKE PEACE AND SHARE THE LAND. THE FIRST STEP WOULD BE GETTING RID OF LIKUD.
If the balestinians hd not voted hamas in '06, Jews would not have voted Likud in '09. If arab armies had not vowed to drive newly born Israel to the sea in '48, there would have been no balestinian refugee. Had the arabs accepted the partition in '48 there would be a 64 year old palestinian state.... If the palestinians had not been keen experts on missing opportunity to miss opportunity, then it would all be positive news from Israel. But Alas!!! for the ifs....it is all about ifs...
The Jews had not literally driven the Palestinians into the sea in '48 and stolen their homes and businesses....The Jews started the trouble.
... and try to dig deeper for the truth, rather than drowning in your own propaganda
But typical, it is frequently used by "civilised" and "wise" Jews. Such a stupidity among "chosen" ?
How about hypocritical fighter? To generalize that all "chosen" i,e jews are the only ones to say "balestinians as opposed palestinians, Next time you try and make a point, think before you spout ignorance
Fellow Humanbeings, greetings from USA. I will make it brief. based on polls and public opinion that has been documented. The majority of mericans ignore this ongoing hatred because it is old, stale and will never change until people in that region realize we are all humanbeing worthy of respect and dignity. The Jews are harboring resentment in merca because so much tax money goes to you and you cant give humanbeings a place to live, they are normal persons with families but you guys never want to budge or be humane about the needs of the Pali's. The midesterners on the other hand hold this unmoveable hatred towards the jews for reasons that go so far back it is senseless. Not to mention that the iranian leadership has always been involved in corruption and hate. Majority opinion is ......why cant you guys just settle this life long B.S. and live like the rest of the normal people.