Hundreds of Palestinian families in the Batn al-Hawa neighbourhood of East Jerusalem are facing the threat of eviction as Israeli settler organisations intensify efforts to expand their presence in the area. Residents say they live in constant fear of losing their homes to Jewish Israeli settlers.
Zohair Rajabi, a 54-year-old community leader, has lived under the threat of eviction for two decades. His home is marked with a yellow sticker on a map he keeps, indicating it is still occupied by Palestinians. A red sticker would mean Jewish Israelis live there. 'We are living in constant anxiety. It's very difficult,' he said.
Recent rulings by Israel's Supreme Court have ended the legal battle for one family and dismissed attempts by two others to block evictions, affecting 66 people. Lawyer Yazeed Kawar described the situation as the worst in 15 years of working on such cases. About 700 Palestinians in the neighbourhood may be threatened with displacement.
The driving force behind the influx of Jewish Israelis is Ateret Cohanim, a group that seeks to 'restore Jewish life' in Jerusalem. It argues that much of Batn al-Hawa was built on land originally housing Yemeni Jews in the late 19th century. A 1970 Israeli law allows Jews to reclaim property in East Jerusalem, which Israel captured in 1967 and annexed, a move considered illegal under international law.
Residents like Nasser Rajabi, 52, and Saleem Abed Ghaith, who bought his home in 1979, express despair. 'My health is not good. The fear of losing my home has taken complete control of me. What will I do? I have no other place to go,' Ghaith said.
