Jerusalem mayor Moshe Lion was interviewed on Sunday morning on Radio 103FM on the Arab violence in Jerusalem and specifically the riots in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of east Jerusalem.

“There is no connection between Sheikh Jarrah and Har Habayis,” he said. “There’s a property dispute in Sheikh Jarrah. This is just unprecedented incitement by the Palestinian Authority to spur violence.”

“The PA and Hamas are trying to ignite Jerusalem. That’s the problem and it needs to be addressed. It happens every year.”

The dispute in Sheikh Jarrah [Shimon HaTzaddik] began when a court accepted the appeal of Jews to reclaim the land that was Jewish-owned before 1948, leading to the impending eviction of four Arab families, consisting of over 70 people, from the neighborhood.

The Arabs facing eviction filed an appeal to the Supreme Court, and a discussion on the issue is scheduled to be held on Monday.

The timing of the hearing has heightened the tension, as Friday was the last day of Ramadan, always a time of increased Arab-Israeli conflict, and Monday is Yom Yerushalayim, when Israel marks the reunification of Jerusalem and the establishment of Israeli control over the Old City following the Six-Day War in 1967.

The kever of Shimon Hatzadik is located in the neighborhood.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)