In a dramatic ruling, the High Court of Justice last week ruled that a Palestinian family living in a home in the Shimon HaTzaddik neighborhood of Jerusalem was doing so on Jewish-owned land, and they are therefore obligated to evacuate the premises. Fourteen Jewish families are in the midst of planning to move into that area as efforts continue to reclaim areas of Yerushalayim from the Arab families living there illegally.

The Shimon HaTzaddik neighborhood is a neighborhood in northern Jerusalem near Kever Shimon HaTzaddik and the Nachlat Shimon neighborhood. The neighborhood was established in 1890 and was abandoned during the War of Independence. In the early 2000s, after a protracted legal battle, Jews began resettling the area which is situated on the border of Sheikh Jarrah, currently home to 20 Jewish families.

Last week, the Supreme Court rejected the appeal of a Palestinian family living in the Shimon HaTzaddik neighborhood who were fighting the eviction. The family’s home was built on land owned by Jews before the War of Independence, and therefore they are required to evacuate. The source of the claim is the deal of 1876, when the Sephardic Community Committee and the Ashkenazi Community Committee purchased Kever Shimon HaTzaddik and lands adjacent to it. A Jewish neighborhood was established there and was conquered by Jordan during the War of Independence.

Lawyers Sami Arshid and Salah Abu Hussein claimed that they had proof that this land did not belong to the Jewish committees. “They rely on Turkish Kushans (ownership deeds), but when you check the registration file, you see that there are no Kushans. Not only that, but less than a month before the land was registered, the Deputy Land Registrar writes that the alleged Kushans were not shown to him. Despite this, in less than a month the land is registered in the name of the Jewish reclamation committees, “says Arshid.

It is important to emphasize that in the matter of ownership of the land, the Arab residents have already raised various claims for more than 20 years before various judges, and more than 30 judges have already ruled in different courts and clearly that the land is owned by Jews.

Arshid and Salah Abu Hussein appealed to the Supreme Court, which last week announced its verdict in the case. This decision will result in a dramatic increase in the Jewish population of the community, fourteen new families.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)