Palestinians in Silwan and other East Jerusalem neighborhoods continue to face eviction under the guise of war. Last week, 15 Palestinian families in Silwan were evicted from their homes, which were transferred to settlers from the “Ateret Cohanim” movement. 

The expulsion is focused on the Batan al-Hawa neighborhood, located on the slopes of the Mount of Olives, and is based on the Absentees’ Property Law of 1950 and the Law of Legal and Administrative Arrangements of 1970, which allow Jews to claim ownership of properties that were in their possession before 1948 but deny this right to Arabs whose homes and lands were settled by Jews in Jerusalem and throughout the country. 

In the past year, 35 eviction orders have been issued to families in the neighborhood, and in the coming months, all of them are expected to be carried out, leaving dozens of families without homes and shelter. 

There is no dispute that the residents of Batan al-Hawa purchased their homes legally and lived in them for decades, but Israeli legislation and the judicial system deny them property rights, ostensibly a fundamental right protected under Israeli Basic Law: Human Dignity and Liberty. In practice, property ownership is a fundamental right for Jews only, reserved for settlers who claim they stepped into the shoes of the Jews who lived there before the establishment of the state. 

Jews from Yemen settled in Silwan and lived there for decades, maintaining excellent relations with their Muslim neighbors. During the riots of 1929, the Muslim residents of the neighborhood defended their Jewish neighbors, but the British then decided to transfer the Jews of Batan al-Hawa to the Jewish Quarter in the Old City, and the small group that returned left for good in 1936. 

Now, 90 years after the last Jews left, settler organizations are using this Jewish settlement as a tool to evict Palestinian families from their homes, under the auspices and support of the government, the municipality, and the police. The Israeli judicial system also supports these actions, and the discriminatory law serves as the legal foundation for this eviction project. Although the State of Israel annexed East Jerusalem, its Palestinian residents do not enjoy the same rights as the Jews. 

We must look at Jerusalem as an example to understand why Arab citizens of Israel do not join us in the protests and struggles against the Netanyahu government’s assault on our judiciary. The same law applies throughout the country, discriminating against Palestinians and taking their homes and lives. Settler organizations in Jerusalem have the opportunity to reclaim their homes and land, while Palestinian citizens of Israel lack this right.  

As long as the majority of the Jewish Israeli public who call themselves liberal continue to justify racist and discriminatory legislation, rulings, and enforcement mechanisms and as long as most of those who are concerned about their personal fate in light of the shrinking democracy do not truly trouble themselves with the situation of our Arab neighbors in Israel, East Jerusalem, and the West Bank, we cannot truly demand partnership from Arab citizens. We cannot expect those whom we ask to join our struggle while refraining from assisting them in theirs. 

There is a small and committed group of Jewish Israelis who are continuing the struggle.  They come to East Jerusalem and provide a protective presence in Palestinian villages attacked by settlers. But this group is too small and  too detached from the “consensus” of the Israeli center-left, which continues to be fearful of being branded by the “stigma” of “loving Arabs.” 

The time has come to raise the level of resistance, not only for ourselves but also for them. Because without this partnership, we cannot return from the abyss into which the current government is plunging the country.

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)