Evictions halted in East Jerusalem 'thanks to Ottoman, Jordanian archives': Lawyers

By Abdelraouf Arna'out

JERUSALEM (AA) - Lawyers for four families in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in occupied East Jerusalem said Thursday that Ottoman and Jordanian documents prevented Israeli’s top court from moving forward with eviction orders.

The Israeli Supreme Court decision Tuesday was "unprecedented," the lawyers said at a news conference and added that they will continue efforts to prove Palestinian families own the lands.

The court said the Al-Kurd, Al-Ja'ouni, Al-Askafi and Abu Hasna families can stay in their homes until Israel conducts a land arrangement -- a process that could take years or may not be carried out at all.

Lawyer Hosni Abu Hussein said because of activism on social media and political pressure, the court reviewed documents presented by Palestinian families – something not done since 1994.

He also said that the lawyers received documents from the Ottoman archive and from Jordan which proved the Israeli settlers' documents presented to the court were false.

Abu Hussein said Palestinian efforts managed to prevent "the establishment of a Jewish settlement in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood."

Last year, tensions ran high in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood after an Israeli court ordered the eviction of several Palestinian families in favor of Israeli settlers.

In 1956, 28 families settled in Sheikh Jarrah under an agreement between the Jordanian government, which ruled the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, before the Israeli occupation in 1967, and the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA).

Israeli settlement associations, however, claim that the homes were built on land that was owned by Jews before 1948, a claim vehemently rejected by Palestinians.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar​​​​​​​