Israel’s Supreme Court is set to decide on the imminent forcible ethnic displacement of Al-Askafi, Al-Ja’ouni, Al-Qasem and Al-Kurd families from the Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah on August 2nd.
As we are well aware that Israeli courts are nothing more than institutions to enforce and consolidate apartheid and settler colonial policies against our people, we count on international solidarity to support the steadfastness of the families by mobilizing your governments to take action.
The families, comprising six households, have appealed to the Supreme Court after they lost the appeal of their forcible expulsion in the Jerusalem District Court in favor of Nahalat Shimon International, the settler organization that falsely claims ownership of the families’ homes.
The four families are among the 28 families, numbering about 550 people threatened with forcible expulsion in Sheikh Jarrah amid a decades-long campaign waged against them by settler groups.
The looming expulsion of the four families is part of a larger plan to Judaize occupied East Jerusalem as taking over Palestinian property in Sheikh Jarrah allows the Israeli occupation to tighten its control over the Old City of Jerusalem and its surrounding areas.
The families expect that the Supreme Court, an institution of apartheid, will rule in favor of the settler group; especially after the Israeli Attorney General Avichai Mendelblit refused to submit a legal opinion to the Supreme Court on the forcible expulsion case of the four families arguing that “the Palestinian families’ case is too weak and that his legal (the AG) opinion would not be able to prevent their pending eviction from the East Jerusalem neighborhood.”
The families’ case is not weak because they lack the documents proving Palestinian ownership of the land on which their homes are built; rather, the families’ cases are weakened by Israel’s apartheid regime that backs settler groups like Nahalat Shimon. and has instituted a discriminatory legal system as part of its settler colonial and apartheid apparatus. , The sole purpose of the entire structure is to ethnically cleanse Palestinians and take over their property and land.
For Palestinians of Sheikh Jarrah, the month of August conjures bitter memories of the forcible expulsion of the Hannoun and Al-Ghawi families twelve years ago when Israeli colonial forces threw them out into the streets on August 4th, 2009 and replaced them with illegal Jewish settlers.
We call on you to support the long-standing steadfastness of the families and stop their predictable forcible ethnic displacement on August 2nd, which, in previous months, have proved effective to at least suspend the ethnic cleansing of the families.
#RaiseYourVoice for Sheikh Jarrah:
- Send a letter to your consulates to the Palestinian Authority and Israel urging them to show up at the court on August 2nd as part of their obligation to uphold International Law and Human Rights. Please see a sample letter below.
- Tag and contact your representatives in the parliament/congress and call on them to immediately denounce the ethnic cleansing of the families in Sheikh Jarrah and exert pressure on their governments to take urgent, concrete and effective action. Please see sample tweets below.
- Before and on the date of the court hearing on August 2nd, flood the social media platforms with the #SaveSheikhJarrah #RaiseYourVoice and #MakeNoise for Sheikh Jarrah hashtags and share messages from Sheikh Jarrah that we will share on our twitter, instagram and Facebook.
Sample letter:
Dear [INSERT NAME OF CONSULATE],
On August 2nd, the four Palestinian families of Al-Askafi, Al-Ja’ouni, Al-Qasem and Al-Kurd from the neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah, occupied East Jerusalem are awaiting the decision of the Israeli Supreme Court on their forcible expulsion. Families are rightly concerned that Israeli courts will once more rule in favor of illegal Jewish settlers.
The imminent forcible dispossession of the four families, who are among the 28 families threatened with expulsion from their homes in Sheikh Jarrah is in violation of the IV Geneva Convention, which prohibits the seizure or destruction of private property, the forcible transfer of a population, or the evictions of residents under occupation, among others.
Israel’s policies in Jerusalem are an integral part of its settler colonial project, which has installed a vicious apartheid regime against the entire Palestinian people. The expropriation of people and communities and the denial of residency rights on racial basis is a core element of the crime of apartheid and yet another move of trampling on International Law.
Israeli apartheid policies have been green-lit thanks to the long-standing silence and complicity of the international community. In violation of international law, institutions, corporations and states continue to economically, politically and militarily aid and assist Israel in the abuse of Palestinian human rights.
This also includes organizations run by illegal settlers and/or founded in order to enable and promote Israel’s illegal settlement policies. Some of them may hold charitable status in our country as they operate mainly with foreign funding and collect money abroad.
As you represent our country , I ask you to move beyond words of condemnation and attend the court hearing of the four families on Monday, August 2nd. Your presence is an important witness and represents a message of respect for Palestinian human rights and International Law.
Sincerely yours,
Sample tweets to consulates:
- On August 2nd, Israel’s Supreme Court is expected to expel 4 Palestinian families from their homes in #SheikhJarrah. I want to see you [@tag your consulate to Palestine/Israel] in court to stop Israeli prosecution of Palestinian families. #SaveSheikhJarrah #RaiseYourVoice.
- Our country has been complicit in entrenching Israeli apartheid regime. [@tag your consulate to Palestine/Israel], end this complicity and be with the 4 Palestinian families from #SheikhJarrah threatened with expulsion in court on August 2nd. #SaveSheikhJarrah #RaiseYourVoice.
- [@tag consulate to Palestine/Israel], say NO to Israeli apartheid practices and be with the 4 Palestinian families from the Jerusalem neighborhood of #SheikhJarrah in court on August 2nd to stop the ruling of their expulsion. #SaveSheikhJarrah #RaiseYourVoice.
Sample tweets to representatives in congress/parliaments:
- Silence towards Israeli crimes against Palestinians emboldens Israel to violate the right of 4 Palestinian families to their homes in #SheikhJarrah. [@tag your rep.] Pressure Israel to stop the expulsion of the families on August 2nd. #SaveSheikhJarrah #RaiseYourVoice
- On August 2nd, 4 Palestinian families from #SheikhJarrah expect to be thrown out into the streets. Do your duty towards human rights and end our country’s complicity with Israeli apartheid. #SaveSheikhJarrah #RaiseYourVoice