Palestinian Couple Evicted from Home of 50 Years as Jerusalem Settlers Move In
November 11th, 2008Change.
Via: Guardian:
Israeli police have evicted a disabled Palestinian man and his wife from their home of 52 years in a Palestinian district surrounded by settlers.
The eviction, which took place before dawn on Sunday, comes after years of litigation that culminated in an Israeli supreme court ruling in July ordering the couple out of the house.
Several governments, including the United States and Britain, whose consulate is a few hundred yards from the house in east Jerusalem, had tried to intervene on behalf of Mohammad and Fawzieh al-Kurd but without success. Most of the international community has not recognised Israeli sovereignty over east Jerusalem, which was captured in the 1967 war and annexed.
Palestinians have long argued that evictions and demolitions are an attempt by Israel to reduce the number of Palestinians in east Jerusalem to allow settlement expansion and to pre-judge a final status peace agreement.
“It is damaging the peace between Palestinians and Israelis,” said Rafiq Husseini, chief of staff to Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas. “They have to halt their settlers or they will not have peace with us ever.”
Israeli officials argue they are following the law. A police spokesman said the eviction was in accordance with the court decision.
“Several governments, including the United States and Britain, whose consulate is a few hundred yards from the house in east Jerusalem, had tried to intervene on behalf of Mohammad and Fawzieh al-Kurd but without success.”
Yea I’m sure they really tried. How about *trying* to use some of that $3 billion in direct foreign aid a year as leverage? http://www.ifamericansknew.org/stats/usaid.html
“They have to halt their settlers or they will not have peace with us ever.” – The sad and ironic part here is that Israelis cannot afford peace. Going back to biblical times and Abraham, Jews have historically been terrible breeders. Even with horrid oppression, chaos and violence being inflicted upon them, Palestinians are still outbreeding Israelis. In a peaceful environment, Jews would swiftly become a minority in Israel and the “Jewish State” would cease to exist within a decade.