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Photo: On Wednesday settlers under police protection move into the Natcheh family house in Beit Hanina. (Photo: Ahmad Gharabli / AFP)


JERUSALEM, April 18, 2012 (WAFA) – Jewish settlers succeeded Wednesday in taking over two homes in the all-Arab East Jerusalem neighborhood of Beit Hanina after police evicted Palestinian families living in the homes.

Khaled Natsheh, owner of one of the homes, said police came in the morning to his house and ordered him and his 10-member family to leave. He was handcuffed and taken to the police station while the police emptied the house of its furniture, put it in truck and took it away.

The two homes were build in the 1998 to house the Natsheh family, which has used the land the houses were built on since 1955 as a brick factory.

However, Natsheh said Jewish settlers began harassing him since the 1980s claiming they own the 10-dunum plot the houses were built on. They said a Jewish family bought the plot from its owners in 1936 and later the settlers bought it from the Jewish family.

The settlers began court proceedings in 2005 to evict the Natsheh family until an Israeli court issued an eviction order on March 1.

Natsheh believes the settlers are going to build a housing project for themselves in that area, making it the first Jewish enclave in the heart of what so far has been an exclusive Arab neighborhood in occupied East Jerusalem.

Palestinians normally have a hard time getting permits from the all-Israel municipality of Jerusalem to build housing units, even in the heavily populated areas in East Jerusalem, while settlers are able to build hundreds of housing units within a short time.

M.S.

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UN envoy condemns Israel's eviction of Palestinian family

BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- A senior UN official on Wednesday condemned Israel's eviction of Palestinians from homes in Beit Hanina in East Jerusalem.

"Evictions of Palestinians from their homes and properties in occupied territory contravene international law, including the Fourth Geneva Convention, and should cease," said UN humanitarian coordinator Maxwell Gaylard in a statement.

Israeli police on Wednesday evicted a Palestinian family from their home in Beit Hanina, shortly before Jewish settlers moved in.

Khaled Natsheh told the official PA news agency Wafa that Israeli police ordered him and his 10-member family to leave their home. Natsheh was taken to a police station while officers removed furniture and the family's belongings from his home, he said.

The Israeli daily The Jerusalem Post reported that 10 Jewish settlers with the right-wing Israel Land Fund moved into Natsheh's home.

The incident was the first eviction in the Palestinian neighborhood Beit Hanina, but settlers have taken over several homes in nearby Sheikh Jarrah.

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by Allison Deger for Mondoweiss

A few weeks ago the Natcheh family, who live in East Jerusalem, caught an almost unheard of break for Palestinian families when city officials canceled an eviction order for their house in Beit Hanina.

But pressure from Aryeh King and his organization The Israel Land Fund, which posted and ad calling for "strong men [who] are wanted to legally evacuate Arab squatters," re-instated the order and now, approximately eight settlers have moved into the house. Jeff Halper, who is following the story and has met with the family, emailed me today details of the eviction:

After months of harassment from settlers and the police, on Wednesday morning the police came and evicted the 14 members Natcheh family from their home, with all their belongings (we have a picture and a report on our ICAHD website). Several members of the family were arrested, but we don't know why as yet. Rather than demolish the home, however, which is usually the case, the police escorted a group of settlers into the home, where they took possession. Aryeh King's lawyer even made a statement to the press that its good that Jews are retaking their properties and announced plans to build 60 homes for Jews (only, of course), in the heart of the Palestinian neighborhood of Beit Hanina.

Its just another example of how Jews are able to win dragged-out court cases on flimsy grounds because the Palestinians do not have the financial resources to compete with them (there was NEVER a Jewish community in Beit Hanina), and witness to the fact that Palestinians like the Natcheh's are unable to reclaim their families' properties and homes inside Israel. 85% of the Palestinians driven from their homes in 1948 (where they owned 40% of the land and housing in WEST Jerusalem) lived -- and many have died -- just a few minutes away from those homes that they could never repossess.

The Natchehs have lived in their mutli-family home since the late 1980s, and have reportedly used the property since the 1930s, when they used to have a small factory.