Israel settlers vandalise Al-Kurd family home for second time in less than a week

Israeli settlers have sprayed racist graffiti on the home of the Palestinian Al-Kurd family in Jerusalem’s Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood, as Palestinian families in the east of the city continue to be threatened with eviction from their homes.

According to the Palestine News Agency (WAFA) and photos it published on Twitter, settlers spray-painted Jewish stars and other markings on the Palestinian-themed artistic murals on the Al-Kurd family’s outer walls, in an attempt to cover them up. The incident makes it the second time in less than a week that their property has been vandalised.

Colonial Israeli settlers spray racist graffiti on al-Kurd family home in #SheikhJarrah neighborhood with for the second time in less than a week! pic.twitter.com/CVeiafksJQ

— Wafa News Agency – English (@WAFANewsEnglish) December 3, 2021

Protests erupted and were brutally suppressed in Jerusalem in May this year when Israeli courts resumed orders to seize Palestinian homes in the neighbourhood of Sheikh Jarrah and then, in the following month, to demolish homes in Silwan.

The East Jerusalem neighbourhoods, particularly Silwan which is home to between 30,000 and 50,000 Palestinians, are now subsequently attempting to keep their homes through the Israeli legal system.

In October, the Israeli High Court then ruled that the four Palestinian families living in Sheikh Jarrah can remain in their homes for 15 years as tenants of the Israeli company Nahalot Shimon, which officially “owns” the properties. Under that ruling, the families were obligated to pay rent and legal fees to the company.

Sheikh Jarrah’s Palestinian residents have refused to pay rent and fees, however, stating that they do not owe any money to the settler organisation for living in their own properties.

The untold story of Sheikh Jarrah