Sheikh Jarrah is a Palestinian neighbourhood north of the Old City in East Jerusalem. Its location makes it a very strategic target for Israeli settler groups to annex, or in other words take over to take full control of East Jerusalem. This forcible change in demographics is seen as a form of Ethnic cleansing by many Palestinians, activists, and academics. There have been many attempts over the years to Judaize this neighbourhood by displacing Palestinians and increasing the Jewish presence in the neighbourhood by tactics of intimidation. Settler violence has been increasing throughout Palestine in recent years.
East Jerusalem is Occupied Palestine, it was annexed (obtained illegally) by Israel along with the West Bank and Gaza in the 1967 war. East Jerusalem is therefore not recognized internationally as the capital of Israel and it does not hold sovereignty over the land. The forcible transfer of the Palestinians from their homes is Illegal by international law and has been condemned by the United Nations – but this land is claimed by Jewish settlers and the Palestinians have received eviction orders from the Israeli court.
28 Palestinians families ended up in Sheikh Jarrah in 1956, after losing their homes in the Nakba and becoming refugees. At the time the West Bank was under Jordanian rule, so the Jordanian Ministry of Construction and Development and the UN refugee agency UNRWA agreed to provide housing for them in Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood. Now the Israeli district court has decided that four families – al-Kurd, Iskafi, Qassim and Jaouni – must leave their homes for settlers to take over, otherwise pay them rent and recognize as landlords. The majority of Palestinians living in Sheikh Jarrah, are young children or the elderly who will become homeless left on the streets if they are displaced.
On the last Friday of the holy month of Ramadan Israeli police stormed the prayer room in the scared Al Aqsa grounds, as hundreds of Palestinians were congregated in religious worship. As the police unprovoked opened fire, worshippers tried to defended themselves by throwing shoes, rocks and chairs at the Israeli police who were in full riot gear. They used rubber bullets, tear gas and stun grenades in the prayer hall. Rubber bullets can be just as lethal as live ammunition especially when used at close range, which they were. At least 205 Palestinians were injured, shot in the face, some losing their eyesight as a result. Two others suffered serious head wounds and another two had their jaw’s fractured. Notice the disproportionate force is police brutality that has been documented by first hand video footage.
Tens of thousands of Palestinian worshippers stayed longer in the mosque after prayers to protest in support of Palestinians facing eviction in Sheikh Jarrah. These protests have increased in the last week and the police have been trying to silence these non-violent protests. Pressurized water cannons were also used to disperse protestors in Sheik Jarrah. These tanks do not contain ordinary water, they contain Skunk water, which is a strong foul substance that lasts for several days, if your clothes get covered in in you will have to burn your clothes.
Thousands of Palestinians and Activists as well as News organizations have been censored when documenting what has been going on. Posts on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter have been removed, stories erased and accounts shutdown. Instagram spokesperson Sophie Vogel denied this stating, “I want to confirm that content related to Sheikh Jarrah was removed as a result of a widespread global technical issue affecting Instagram. This issue was not focused on any particular location or topic and has now been fixed.” This is not the first time we have seen censorship on social media regarding the oppression of Palestinians. Content containing firsthand experiences have previously been removed under pressure from Israeli groups. The Israeli government has also put pressure on social media platforms to reveal the identities for those posting content about their daily struggle in the occupied territories, leading to hundreds of arrests.
Violence is expected to continue as the Israeli supreme court will make a final decision on the Sheikh Jarrah evictions on Monday. Sunday night is “Laylat al-Qadr” or the “Night of Destiny”, the most sacred in the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Worshippers will gather for nighttime prayers at the Al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem’s Old City. The same Sunday night is also the start of Jerusalem Day, a national holiday in which Israel celebrates its illegal annexation of East Jerusalem and far-right wing nationalists hold parades and celebrations in the city.
HOW YOU CAN HELP:
- Use the hashtag #SaveSheikhJarrah
- Share Palestinian content and news on social media.
- Complain if Palestinian content is removed.
- Sign this petition: https://secure.everyaction.com/wUAYmd6RzEacXxN3WQuYQQ2
- Write to the foreign office using this template from PSC https://palestinecampaign.eaction.online/lobby/sheikh-jarrah
- Write to your MP using this FOA template: https://www.foa.org.uk/campaign/save-sheikh-jarrah/
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#SaveSheikhJarrah #Jerusalem #FreePalestine #PoliceBrutality #Palestine #Israel #Ramadan #AlAqsa #InternationalLawViolatiion #EndOccupation #EndApartheid
