Middle East Monitor / December 9, 2020
At least 86 Palestinian families are facing forced eviction in Jerusalem’s Batn Al-Hawa neighbourhood as Israel intensified pressure on them to demolish their homes under the pretext that they lack the necessary building licenses, Arab48 reported today.
The Popular Committee for Batn Al-Hawa Families called for people to gather for Friday prayer in the protest tent in the neighbourhood to condemn Israel forces’ decision to forcibly evict 86 families living in homes whose ownership is claimed by a settlement group Ateret Cohanim.
At the moment, Arab48 reported,three families are facing “eminent” eviction after the District Court in Jerusalem turned down their petition against a ruling by the Magistrate’s Court which called dor them to hand their property to the settlement organisation.
In a joint statement issued by Wadi Al-Hilwa Information Centre and Batn Al-Hawa Committee, the District Court turned down the petition filed by the Dowaik, Odeh and Shweeky families.
The statement stated that the families’ homes consisted of two buildings which come as part of Ateret Cohanim’s plan to seize 5,200 square metres of the land of Batn Al-Hawa, claiming this land belonged to Yemeni Jews since 1881.
Ateret Cohanim claims that Batn Al-Hawa was built on the ruins of a Jewish neighbourhood named the Town of Yemenis, which allegedly was Jewish until 1938 when the authorities of the British Mandate evicted them.
Scores of similar petitions are still waiting court rulings.
Yesterday, Israeli occupation forces made Jerusalemite Mahmoud Al-Khalisi from Silwan demolish his home for the second time.
