JERUSALEM, Monday, January 17, 2022 (WAFA) – Israeli occupation authorities Monday forcefully expelled a Palestinian family from their house and nursery in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah, according to sources.
Israeli police and municipal staff barged their way into the neighborhood, which became a scene of massive protests against Israel’s settler-colonialism in the occupied territories, and forced the Salihiya family to empty their nursery as a prelude to demolish it and seize the plot of land.
Police and municipal staff also cordoned off the family house of Mahmoud Salihiya and forcefully expelled the family.
Mahmoud refused to obey the order of the municipality and threatened to set the house on fire in rejection of the forceful expulsion.
The Salhiya family was originally expelled from their house in the West Jerusalem neighborhood of Ein Karem in 1948 during the ethnic cleansing of the village. They bought a new home in the 1950s in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood, over a decade before Israel occupied and annexed the area.
The neighborhood has become a scene of massive protests against Israel’s settler-colonialism in the occupied territories since the Israeli occupation authorities decided to forcibly expel dozens of families from their houses in favor of colonial settler groups.
Palestinians have maintained that the Israeli occupation authorities decision to “evict” the families from their houses in favor of the settler groups is politically-motivated and comes as part of Israel’s efforts to ethnically cleanse Jerusalemite Palestinians.
Since the occupation of Jerusalem by Israel in June 1967, Israeli settlers colonial organizations, including Elad and Ateret Cohanim, have claimed ownership of Palestinian property in Jerusalem. Backed by the Israeli state, judiciary and security services, these organizations have been working on wresting control of Palestinian property and convert it into colonial outposts as part of the efforts to ensure a Jewish majority in the city, as well as on managing archaeological sites in Silwan and overseeing their excavation. This scheme involves building new colonial tourist sites, such as the “City of David”, to bolster their propaganda.
K.T./ K.F.
