Israeli settlers have been moved into, on Tuesday, houses in the al-Farouq neighborhood of Jabel Mukaber in occupied East Jerusalem, resulting in the expulsion of twenty eight Palestinians.It has been reported, by local news agencies, that when the notice was delivered to the residents, more than forty police officers and a dozen settlers were waiting outside the building.
The Wohl Investment group has reportedly purchased the house, and evicted the Palestinian residents with help from the Israeli police force. although the evicted Palestinians reject that claim.
They have stated that the sale of the property can not be valid, as the former owner and landlord of the house, Ali Kara’in, shown to be the seller in the transaction has been deceased since the 1990s and had left the property to the evicted family in his will.
The El-Ad group, a property development conglomerate in Israel with subsidiaries in the U.S., works on behalf of settlers, and has stated that the family had agreed to leave the property having sold it.
The group explains its activity as a way to strengthen the Jewish connection to Jerusalem and renew the Jewish community in the area, and has been at the centre of disputes in the village of Silwan, which is predominately Arab, where the group is attempting to have homes demolished to make way for it’s City of David park. Current excavation work has caused subsidence in the Palestinian neighborhood, leading to structural problems with a local girls school.
Today’s eviction led to protest by Israeli activists from the Sheikh Jarrah Solidarity Movement, two of whom were assaulted by a settler, according to eye witnesses, leading to his arrest.
