The Palestinian Association for Human Rights (Witness) started a human rights advocacy campaign for the people of the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in Jerusalem, as part of its efforts to uncover, document, and defend the violations against the Palestinian people.

Witness said in a statement that it worked on preparing legal notes and sending them to many relevant international and regional bodies, calling on them to urgently intervene to save the neighborhood and its residents from the forced displacement and to provide legal, political, and diplomatic support.

It indicated that it had monitored and documented the Israeli organized violations through which it sought to displace hundreds of Jerusalem residents, which will be announced at a later time, Witness added.

The Israeli authorities are committing a human crime in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood threatening 28 Palestinian homes with displacement and eviction, following an Israeli court's decision to give the Palestinians until the second of next May to leave, rejecting all Palestinian appeals under the pretext of having documents in the possession of the settlement associations proving their right to the ownership of the lands. The courts justified their ruling in favor of the settlement associations under the pretext of the statute of limitations.

The Israeli policies focused in East Jerusalem on two central strategies, the first being to reinforce the presence of a Jewish majority in Jerusalem by establishing settlements, while the second sought to achieve the same goal by limiting the Palestinian population growth and reducing their numbers.

Israel has not stopped targeting the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood since the beginning of the 1970s, the settlement societies have been trying what they call "regaining ownership of the properties that were inhabited by Jewish families" before the Nakba, according to human rights information and reports.

Witness stated that dozens of Palestinian families will face a lawsuit demanding the evacuation of their homes, as part of a comprehensive settlement scheme in the neighborhood.

It recommended the necessity of urgent intervention to save the neighborhood and its residents from the displacement process and provide legal support by providing all the required documents, as well as political and diplomatic support.

Source : Safa