Israel forcibly evicts two Palestinian families from their home of 55 years

Last week, the Israeli occupation forcibly evicted the Odeh and Shweiki families from their East Jerusalem home after 55 years. Despite having legal purchase documents proving their ownership of the house in Batan al-Hawa, Silwan, the eviction went ahead. The East Jerusalem evictions are becoming far too common.

East Jerusalem evictions

Police evicted residents from their home, and a removal company loaded their belongings onto trucks. Jewish settlers moved in, raising the Israeli flag. The settlers had claimed Jews owned the land in the late 19^th century. The court ruled in the settlers’ favour and dispossessed the families.

In 1948, when ‘Israel’ was created, around 20,000 Palestinians fled homes in West Jerusalem. 2,000 Jews left East Jerusalem, mainly from the Old City’s Jewish quarter. The Legal and Administrative Matters Law allows Jews alone to reclaim property in East Jerusalem, allegedly owned by them before 1948, but denies the same right to Palestinians. Many Palestinians who lost homes in 1948 became refugees. They can never return. This law underpins ongoing East Jerusalem evictions in areas such as Silwan, and Sheikh Jarrah.

Palestinians appealing a demolition order on their homes never win

While Palestinians claim East Jerusalem as the capital of their future state, the Israeli occupation regards the entire city as its capital. So these evictions form part of the occupation’s ethnic cleansing campaign, to increase East Jerusalem’s Jewish population and character. This process is known as Judaization, and ‘Israel’ achieves this through demolishing Palestinians’ homes, and through settlers taking them over.

Israeli anthropologist, Jeff Halper, is Director of the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD). He says: 

It’s all political, and Palestinians have no way of defending themselves. They could go to court and try to appeal a demolition order, but it never succeeds, and costs lots of money.

Similarly, settlers go to court claiming Palestinian properties once belonged to Jews. More than 75 percent of Palestinians in East Jerusalem live below the poverty line, lacking resources for expensive legal battles. Settlers always win in court, justified or not, even with forged documents.

Palestinians pay the occupation around £20,000 to demolish their homes.

There is no compensation for demolished homes. Instead, Palestinian families must pay the authorities around £20,000. If Palestinians demolish their own home, it costs less, so many are forced to do this.

Settlers, working with the occupation’s police, target vulnerable Palestinians, whose homes face demolition. They often offer to buy homes and relocate Palestinians. But those Palestinians forced to sell by settlers are branded collaborators, and their safety becomes at risk.

Halper explains:

Once settlers move in, the house becomes legal, so doesn’t get demolished. But if you don’t cooperate with them your house will be demolished. So you lose your home anyway.

Judaization of Silwan is also occurring via development of the so-called illegal “City of David” archaeological and tourist park. ‘Israel’ is constructing this colonial project on occupied territory, aiming to replace Silwan entirely.

‘City of David’ tourist attraction—a colonial project erasing neighbourhood of Silwan

 Halper says 88 homes have demolition orders to make way for the park’s tourist facilities. 

As it moves down the hill, they are taking over a whole valley. It’s the use of planning for political purposes. It seems friendly. It’s all biblical and looks great, but the purpose is Judaization.

The illegal city of david settlement photo

In 1984, archaeologist and Hebrew University President Benjamin Mazar admitted: “Biblical archaeology was part of Zionist idealism”.  Zionist archaeologists use their selective archaeology to reinforce their claims to Jerusalem, and attempt to reshape and rewrite history. Although Jerusalem has a 5000 year archaeological record, Zionists are obsessed with finding archaeological remains from the “biblical era”, ignoring all others- including Roman, Persian, Byzantine, Islamic and Ottaman periods. They also erase the history of all other groups- including Palestinians- highlighting only the Jewish story. The park’s purpose is to reinforce false Jewish claims, and rewrite history.

Settlers controlling Silwan aim to replace Palestinians with Jews

Most settlers in Silwan are members of the wealthy, influential Elad settler’s association.

Elad is licensed to run the park, so these settlers have a lot of authority. They also handle demolition orders and have the power to issue them, for the park’s expansion.

During a 2020 court case against a Silwan resident, Elad’s founder, David Be’eri, confirmed: “We are a foundation whose goals are to house Jewish families in the City of David….This is a main part of the foundation’s goals”.

Trump officially recognised Jerusalem as the capital of ‘Israel’ in 2017. According to Halper, this move gave Judaization political legitimacy internationally. The US does not consider East Jerusalem to be occupied, so home demolitions are treated as local issues not political ones.

The Judaization of East Jerusalem is accelerating. Since the US accepts, recognises and supports this process, Europe will not sanction the criminal Israeli regime. Yet again, it continues its policies with impunity.

Home demolitions: the preferable way to ethnically cleanse East Jerusalem

‘Israel’ prefers to ethnically cleanse Palestinians with demolition orders rather than directly raiding a Palestinian home, as legal proceedings are quieter. This strategy keeps demolitions less visible internationally and helps Israel avoid criticism. It is very effective.

Halper says:

We estimate that Israel’s demolished around 60,000 Palestinian homes in the West Bank and East Jerusalem since 1967. But it’s all under the radar, and Israel does not get criticised.

Almost all Palestinian construction is illegal under Israeli policy. This is because the occupation refuses 99 percent of Palestinian requests for building permits in East Jerusalem and most of the West Bank. Unable to get permits, families have no option except building without them, so many homes become “illegal” by default. This lets the Israeli occupation demolish them at any moment, even after decades. The justification is based solely on planning law- part of the wider strategy to keep Palestinian communities insecure and vulnerable.

Palestinians in East Jerusalem face ongoing threats. The Israeli regime blocks legal channels, declares homes to be illegal, and acts with impunity while the world is silent. But their fight to stay continues, despite increasing efforts to fracture their community and strip away their heritage.

East Jerusalem evictions remain a stark reminder of how the occupation weaponises law to erase Palestinian presence in their efforts to ethnically cleanse the city.

Featured image supplied via author