'Pay Rent to The Settlers' - Israeli Court Tells Palestinians Facing Evictions

ALBAWABA - The Palestinian residents of the occupied neighborhood of Jerusalem’s Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood continues to make headlines. The residents have long faced evictions from their homes by settlers who long used the Israeli justice system and its courts to forcibly turn the Palestinians out.

Today the Israeli Supreme Court is reviewing the imminent evictions after listening to the statements of the four Palestinians families and those of the Israeli settlers represented by the Nahlat Shimon Jewish company.

The court, and for the first time has refused to make an immediate ruling; its three Israeli judges stated they would do so in due time. However, it came up with a compromise solution, suggesting the four families can stay in their homes as long as they “pay rent” to the Israeli settlers.

Their status would become that of “protected residence.” The Palestinian families – that of El Kurd, Jouni Abu Hasna and Askafi rejected the solution regarding as preposterous, stating their land and property is theirs and they have the necessary documents to prove it. They say their are sticking to their position regardless of the pressure they are being subjected to.

They say they were given the documents from the Jordanian authorities which controlled the land between 1948 and 1967 when Israel occupied Jerusalem.

For the time being they are spared and await the final ruling by the Israeli Supreme Court. Jewish settlers have long tried to evict the Palestinians from their homes. Currently there are eviction lawsuits against 60 Palestinian families going through the Israeli courts.