Interviews with Evicted al-Hanoun and al-Ghawi Families, Sheikh Jarrah, East Jerusalem, 12/17/10: video

(video 2:59)

Rally Chants:
1-2-3-4, Ethnic Cleansing No More
5-6-7-8, Israel Is a Racist State
1-2-3-4, Demolitions No More
5-6-7-8, Stop the Stealing, Stop the Hate


The Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in East Jerusalem -- a particularly sensitive neighborhood due to its proximity to the Green Line -- was built by the UN and Jordanian government in 1956 to house Palestinian refugees from the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. However, with the start of the Israeli occupation of East Jerusalem, following the 1967 Six Day War war, settlers began claiming ownership of the land the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood was built on. (http://palsolidarity.org/2010/08/13488/)

On August 2nd 2009, the al-Hanoun and al-Ghawi families were evicted from their homes in the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood of East Jerusalem at 5:30 in the morning by Israeli security forces. The eviction of the two families caused international outcry, and was condemned by the UN, as well as the American and British consulates. Since then both families have maintained a presence outside their houses which are occupied by extremist Israeli settlers who moved in on the same day that Israeli police evicted the Palestinians. (http://palsolidarity.org/2010/08/13488/)

On December 1st, 2009, Israeli settlers broke into a sealed section of the al-Kurd family house and refused to leave, claiming the property was owned by Jews. Since then, the settlers have struggled to evict the family from the back partition of their home. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheikh_Jarrah#Property_disputes & http://palsolidarity.org/2009/12/9661/)

Twenty-eight more Palestinian families in the neighborhood, all refugees and descendants from 1948, are currently in jeopardy of losing their homes through similar evictions and settlements, and the city is planning construction of an apartment building on the land.