Israeli Supreme Court orders eviction of 3 Palestinian families in Jerusalem in favour of settlers

The Israeli Supreme Court rejected on Sunday the request for leave to appeal submitted by three Palestinians against a decision to evict them from their homes in the Batn al-Hawa neighbourhood, in occupied Jerusalem, in favour of settlers, local sources reported.

The request was submitted by the three families comprising 19 residents, who live in the Shweiki and Odeh house and who now will be forced to leave their home for settlers associated with the Ateret Cohanim organization.

The sources warned that the court’s ruling would influence other pending eviction lawsuits currently before the courts.

The Israeli anti-settlement movement Peace Now said the eviction lawsuit is part of a larger effort to forcibly displace an entire community of approximately 700 Palestinian residents from this East Jerusalem neighbourhood and to establish a settlement.

The legal basis for these eviction claims is a discriminatory law that allows Jews to reclaim properties lost in the 1948 war, while another law prevents Palestinians from exercising the same right, it explained.

“If this eviction is carried out, God forbid, it will be an injustice and a crime against a vulnerable population under occupation in East Jerusalem, leaving an indelible stain on the State of Israel” said Peace Now in a statement posted on its website.

It warned that approximately 80 Palestinian families in the neighbourhood are at risk of eviction.

In its advisory opinion issued last July, the International Court of Justice in The Hague addressed Israel’s settlement policy in East Jerusalem and its discriminatory legal system, particularly the Absentee Property Law, which results in the eviction of Palestinians from their homes in favour of settlers. The court ruled that the policy constitutes a violation of international law.