Why residents of Jerusalem’s Sheikh Jarrah face eviction
Eleven families are about to be thrown out of their home in Jerusalem’s Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood to make room for settlers.
RAMALLAH, West Bank — About 36 Palestinians, including six children from the Sabbagh family in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah, live in constant fear of the Israeli Execution Office’s decision regarding their eviction in favor of Israeli settlers.
The Execution Office, which is the competent authority to implement court decisions, notified Jan. 3 five families of the Sabbagh family that they had until Jan. 23 to vacate their homes.
The family’s lawyer, Husni Abu Hussein, however, managed Jan. 14 to obtain a freeze order until Feb. 16, since the Central Court and Supreme Court have yet to rule on the land ownership in the neighborhood.
The case goes back to 2012 when the family’s lawyers resorted to the Israeli Central Court to file a lawsuit against Nahalat Shimon, an organization that represents settlers, claiming that the neighborhood’s lands, including the houses of the Sabbagh families, belong to settlers.
