After displacing residents, Israeli court rejects to rule on return of Salhiya family to Sheikh Jarrah home

Occupied Jerusalem (QNN)- Israel’s Central Court refused on Sunday to rule on the return of the Salhiya family to their home in Jerusalem’s Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood, after it was demolished by Israeli occupation authorities and its residents were displaced last week.

Walid Abu Taieh, the family’s lawyer, said that he had filed a lawsuit to the occupation court in Jerusalem asking for the family to be allowed to return and rebuild their home.

However, he said the court rejected the appeal and refused to issue such a ruling on the basis that “the demolition is a reality on the ground”.

An appeal has been filed to the Israeli High Court on the ground that the demolition was illegal since the family never received a demolition order for the house and therefore the family can legally return to their land and rebuild their home, the lawyer added.

Last Wednesday, Israeli occupation forces demolished Salhiya family house after raiding their house in Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in occupied Jerusalem in the early morning hours, violently arresting and assaulting the family members.

The forces arrested five of the family members, including Mahmoud, and over 22 supporters who were camping inside the property in solidarity with the family and were also assaulted. They were released the next day on the conditions that they are now barred from entering the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood for 30 days and that each of them must pay a bail amounting 1000 Shekel ( approx. USD$400).

The conditions also include that anyone must pay a 5000 Shekel bail if he breaks the condition of being barred from entering the neighborhood.

Last Monday, the Israeli forces also attempted to forcibly displaced the Salhiya family from its house. They raided the area and demolished five businesses Mahmoud owned.

However, Mahmoud refused to obey the order of the Israeli occupation municipality and threatened to set himself and the house on fire, in opposition to the forced displacement.

Hours later, the Israeli forces left the area after demolishing five businesses owned by Mahmoud.

The Salhiya family was displaced from its house in the west Jerusalem neighborhood of Ein Karem in 1948 during the ethnic cleansing of the village.

They bought a new house in the 1950s in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood, over a decade before ‘Israel’ occupied and annexed the area.

Eighteen people lived on the property in two adjacent houses, including Mahmoud, his wife and children, his mother and his sister’s family. The whole family is made up of 9 children.

The family was offered by the occupation municipality an eight-month extension to convince them to sign a paper stating that they would become a tenant of the house, but they refused.

The family also said that the battle to keep its house had cost them around NIS 600,000 (about $ 190,000) in fines, the cost of filing cases and appointing lawyers.

More than 500 Palestinians living in 28 houses in the neighborhood are also threatened with forced displacement by settler organizations supported by the Israeli occupation government.