WASHINGTON, November 2, 2009 (WAFA) – Two representatives of  Hannoun, al-Ghawi, and  al-Kurd families who were forcibly removed last August  by Israeli Occupation Forces  from their homes in Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood  of  East Jerusalem to make room for new settlements in East Jerusalem, will present their case in Washington.

The families, originally displaced in 1948 from homes within historic Palestine, have been living in tents for the past 70 days. Israeli courts have rejected their petitions and their evictions are the precipice for at least 500 more anticipated evictions.

Evicted residents, Sharihan Hannoun and Nasser al-Ghawi, along with Suhail Khalilieh, head of the Settlements Monitoring Department at the Applied Research Institute of Jerusalem, have been lobbying Members of Congress in Washington and will be traveling on to New York to lobby members of the United Nations for their property rights and homes in Jerusalem. 

Tomorrow at the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC ) there will be a discussion with Sharihan, Nasser and  Suhail.

Sharihan Hannoun is a 20 year old university student, studying psychology at Al Quds University.  She was born in Sheikh Jarrah.  Her grandfather was a refugee from Haifa, who fled to Nablus in 1948 before coming to Jerusalem in 1956; he owned property in Haifa which he left behind.  Sharihan has three brothers.  In the home the settlers have now taken over there were also her two uncles' families - 17 people in the whole building, including herself.

Nasser al-Ghawi is a resident of Sheikh Jarrah now living in a tent outside his home, which settlers took over in August 2009.  He is 46, runs a printing business in A-Ram and is a graphic designer, and was born in the Sheikh Jarrah home now in dispute which was given to his family by the UN as refugees in 1956 from Tzrifin/Tsarafand, where they owned a home and 18 dunums, in 1948.  He has five children.  In 2002 he lived for six months in a tent outside his home, before regaining entry; the building was home to 37 family members.

Suhail Khalilieh heads the Settlements Monitoring Department at the Applied Research Institute-Jerusalem (ARIJ). He previously worked at the Citizen Rights Center (CRC) with The Arab Thought Forum (ATF), at the Palestinian Trade Center - PALTRADE, as Publications & Communication Officer, was Executive Director of the Union of Stone & Marble Industry and rejoined ARIJ in 2003. He contributes to many publications and is considered a political analyst and expert on Israeli settlements and Israeli army policies in the OPT.