Jerusalem The story of the suffering of a Palestinian family from grandparents to grandchildren in Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood

Palestinian Aref Hammad's refusal since the 1970s to vacate his home in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of occupied East Jerusalem has made him subject to constant pressure.

Since the seventies of the last century, Palestinian Aref Hammad has refused many Israeli financial temptations to vacate his home in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of occupied East Jerusalem, which made him subject to constant pressure.

In a small garden in his home in the Palestinian neighborhood, Hammad talked about his family’s asylum journey from Haifa in 1948, before they settled in East Jerusalem, from which they fear being expelled.

Hammad said: "The father and mother were born in Haifa, and they were displaced in 1948, following the war, and they came to Jerusalem and had 3 children, and because of the war they had arrived in the city with empty hands."

In 1948, the establishment of Israel was declared on most of the lands of historic Palestine, after nearly 800,000 out of 1.4 million Palestinians were displaced from their villages and cities to the West Bank, Gaza Strip and neighboring Arab countries.

Hammad added: "My mother worked at Khawla Bint Al-Azwar School in East Jerusalem, after a period of torment, without work, housing, or any necessities for life."

And he added: "The school principal gave my mother at the time a room to live in, and in this room she gave birth to a girl and a boy, but because of the bad conditions they died as children, and I was born in the same room in 1951."

Hammad continued, "My father continued without work, knowing that he worked as a tank mechanic in Haifa, and because he could not find a job, the school director found him a job at the school as well."

Hammad pointed out that, "At that time, they heard about a project being established by the Jordanian government (Jerusalem was under its jurisdiction before 1967) to settle refugees in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood, and because there was no shelter for the family, they began to seek a housing unit in the neighborhood."

He said: "They applied, and they had a lottery share, to take this house, and we received it in 1956 in agreement with the Jordanian government at the time. The agreement stipulated that after 3 years and 3 months, the Jordanian government will register the houses in the names of their residents."

He added: "At the time, the agreement included conditions that included setting up gardens and fences in the vicinity of homes and connecting electricity and water, and we met all the conditions by 1959, but the 1967 war took place before the Jordanian government completed the registration of homes in our names, knowing that it had begun procedures for the canonization of homes." .

Israel occupied the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip in 1967.

And 28 refugee families moved to live in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in 1956, but their tragedy actually began in 1972.

Settlers' slander

Hammad said: "In 1972, we were surprised by a warning from two settlement associations that claimed ownership of the land on which the houses were built, and we were asked to vacate the houses on the grounds that we had entered the land by force, which is not true."

He pointed out that some families in the neighborhood had to hire an Israeli lawyer to defend them before the Israeli courts.

On the reason for this, Hammad explained that: "At that time, Arab lawyers were reluctant to plead before the Israeli courts."

He added, "Therefore, it was proposed to assign an Israeli lawyer, Isaac Toseh Cohen, to defend the four families against whom a lawsuit was filed on the pretext that they entered the homes by force, namely, Hammad, Ayoubi, Ghosheh and Husseini."

Hammad added that Cohen "was able to prove to the court the settlers' slander that the residents entered the houses by force. We did not enter them by force, but rather according to an agreement with the Jordanian government and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA)."

He pointed out that "the two settlement associations lost the case in 3 stages, namely, the Israeli Magistrates' Courts, the Central and the Supreme Courts."

Cohen Agreement

But if the Palestinian families had good tidings about the Israeli lawyer Cohen, they are still paying the price for their transgression later, according to Hammad.

Hammad explained, "In the mid-1980s, the settlement associations filed lawsuits against 13 families in the neighborhood, and because of the success of the Israeli lawyer in the previous case, he was assigned the case of these families to plead on their behalf before the Israeli courts."

However, in the late eighties, the same Israeli attorney concluded an agreement with the opposing attorney, stating that the two settlement associations are the owners of the land and that we are tenants.

Hammad added: "This agreement had a bad effect on the entire neighborhood because in 2009, as a result, settlers were able to seize 4 homes owned by the families of Al-Ghawi, Hanun and Al-Kurd."

He continued, "After its seizure, the settlement associations filed lawsuits against 3 other families in the neighborhood, which are Hammad, Dajani and Daoudi."

Hammad pointed out that the associations "later filed lawsuits against the families of Al-Sabbagh, Al-Kurd, Al-Jaouni and a shoemaker."

He pointed out that "decisions were taken in the Israeli Magistrate's Courts and the Central Courts to evacuate these homes" during 2020 and 2021.

Popular movement

Hammad said: "But the developments that occurred, the movement, the solidarity and the Palestinian popular vigils in May 2021 forced the Israeli Supreme Court to freeze these decisions."

And he added: "Our defense team submitted a request to appeal the eviction decisions, but the Israeli Supreme Court tried to reach a settlement between us and the opponent, but it did not succeed."

He added, "After that, the Israeli Supreme Court submitted a proposal to both parties, according to which it considered us as protected tenants for a certain period in return for paying the rent to the settlers, and after determining the owner of the property, we will be evicted or installed in our homes."

Hammad added, "We informed the court that this proposal was rejected, and the matter is currently under consideration by the court."

Endless suffering

Hammad pointed out that his family of 18 people is now living in the house and is afraid of being displaced from it.

He said, "We are 18 people, me, my son, his sons, my brother, his son, his daughter, and their children."

Hammad added: "We have been suffering since 1972, when we were young, but we were aware of what was happening before them and their pressure on us."

And he added: "More than once, they tried to pressure us into submission. Financial temptations were offered in exchange for leaving the house, but they did not succeed in their attempt, and they tried to restrict us by restricting our movement and livelihood, and they did not succeed either."

Hammad continued, "They have tried since the seventies with the parents and with all the neighbors, where huge sums of money and open checks were offered for any amount we want in return for evacuating our homes, but they did not find a listening ear, and God willing, they will not be able to evacuate our homes."

Israeli courts had ruled that Palestinian families vacate their homes in favor of settlers.

Psychological stress

Hammad said, referring to the settlers: "Go to the judiciary, which actually follows the settlers, as it is not biased towards justice and laws."

He pointed to the "great psychological pressure that is being exerted on families."

Hammad said: "Anxiety and psychological fatigue are present and permanent through the settlers' stances against us while the (Israeli) police stand with them, and we confront them with our bare chests while they are heavily armed."

He added: "We are in constant anxiety, our concern is not new, our rejection of the settlers' ownership of this land has been in place since 1972, and until today, we say that with all the bitterness and torment we endure and with all the oppression and the bad psychological state experienced by our children and women, we insist that we do not surrender in any way. of the circumstances."

Hammad continued, "The psychological conditions are very bad, and our children are poor, may God help them."

The Palestinians say that Israel is targeting these families in Jerusalem as part of its moves to change the demographic structure in the occupied city and obliterate their Palestinian identity.

The Palestinians adhere to East Jerusalem as the capital of their hoped-for state, based on the international community’s resolutions that do not recognize Israel’s occupation of the city in 1967 or its annexation in 1981.