A rare win for E. Jerusalem family facing settler takeover

By +972 Magazine March 16, 2015 | Edit

Israel’s Supreme Court ‘recommends’ that settler organization Elad and the JNF withdraw their petition to take control of the property.

By Moriel Rothman-Zecher

The Ruweidi family outside their home in Silwan May 9, 2012 (Photo: Moriel Zecher-Rothman)

In the context of the absurd reality of Israel’s occupation, last Thursday brought a glimmer of good news. Attorneys for the Jewish National Fund (JNF) and settler group Elad withdrew their petition seeking to expel the Ruweidi family from their East Jerusalem home. Elad’s lawyer, Eitan Peleg, withdrew the following a recommendation made by the Israeli Supreme Court, casting doubt on Elad’s and the JNF’s claims to the property.

Peace Now settlement watch director Hagit Ofran told +972 that that the house will now officially and formally recognized as belonging to the Ruweidi family, after 25 years of attempted confiscations by Elad and its allies in the NGO sector and government.

It is important to understand the absurdity of this situation. Firstly, the application of the Absentee Property Law (which allows the state to confiscate the property of Palestinian refugees from 1948 and 1967) in East Jerusalem is nothing more than a tool of expansionist and discriminatory takeover: it is used exclusively by Jews against Palestinians, never allowing Palestinians to reclaim their property that is now in Jewish hands. Secondly, Elad’s attempts to prove that the Ruweidi home was “absentee property” were based on nothing more than false testimony from a single Palestinian man who had no connection to the family whatsoever.

In the fall of 2011, the JNF’s role in facilitating the eviction of Palestinian families from their homes in Silwan was spotlighted by a campaign to prevent the eviction of the Sumarin family. The Sumarin family home is immediately adjacent to the City of David tourist site, which is operated by Elad under a contract with the State.

Moriel Rothman-Zecher is an American-Israeli writer and member of the All That’s Left anti-occupation collective. He is on Twitter at@Moriel_RZ and blogs at www.thelefternwall.com.

V1 Journalism against apartheid

Our team has been devastated by the horrific events of this latest war. The world is reeling from Israel’s unprecedented onslaught on Gaza, inflicting mass devastation and death upon besieged Palestinians, as well as the atrocious attack and kidnappings by Hamas in Israel on October 7. Our hearts are with all the people and communities facing this violence. We are in an extraordinarily dangerous era in Israel-Palestine. The bloodshed has reached extreme levels of brutality and threatens to engulf the entire region. Emboldened settlers in the West Bank, backed by the army, are seizing the opportunity to intensify their attacks on Palestinians. The most far-right government in Israel’s history is ramping up its policing of dissent, using the cover of war to silence Palestinian citizens and left-wing Jews who object to its policies. This escalation has a very clear context, one that +972 has spent the past 14 years covering: Israeli society’s growing racism and militarism, entrenched occupation and apartheid, and a normalized siege on Gaza. We are well positioned to cover this perilous moment – but we need your help to do it. This terrible period will challenge the humanity of all of those working for a better future in this land. Palestinians and Israelis are already organizing and strategizing to put up the fight of their lives. Can we count on your support? +972 Magazine is a leading media voice of this movement, a desperately needed platform where Palestinian and Israeli journalists, activists, and thinkers can report on and analyze what is happening, guided by humanism, equality, and justice. Join us.

Make a Donation

End of article module for Members

TEST TEST GAL Our team has been devastated by the horrific events of this latest war. The world is reeling from Israel’s unprecedented onslaught on Gaza, inflicting mass devastation and death upon besieged Palestinians, as well as the atrocious attack and kidnappings by Hamas in Israel on October 7. Our hearts are with all the people and communities facing this violence. We are in an extraordinarily dangerous era in Israel-Palestine. The bloodshed has reached extreme levels of brutality and threatens to engulf the entire region. Emboldened settlers in the West Bank, backed by the army, are seizing the opportunity to intensify their attacks on Palestinians. The most far-right government in Israel’s history is ramping up its policing of dissent, using the cover of war to silence Palestinian citizens and left-wing Jews who object to its policies. This escalation has a very clear context, one that +972 has spent the past 14 years covering: Israeli society’s growing racism and militarism, entrenched occupation and apartheid, and a normalized siege on Gaza. We are well positioned to cover this perilous moment – but we need your help to do it. This terrible period will challenge the humanity of all of those working for a better future in this land. Palestinians and Israelis are already organizing and strategizing to put up the fight of their lives. Can we count on your support? +972 Magazine is a leading media voice of this movement, a desperately needed platform where Palestinian and Israeli journalists, activists, and thinkers can report on and analyze what is happening, guided by humanism, equality, and justice. Join us.

Make a Donation

End of article module for Registered users

Make a Donation