Sheikh Jarrah verdict, George Bisharat, save Lifta

July 2021 Newsletter
* Court verdict on Sheikh Jarrah due on 2^nd August – act now
* Recordings of July webinars with Jeff Halper
* August webinar on Silwan & Sheikh Jarrah – hear from the locals
* Interview with George Bisharat, legal scholar, educator, commentator on the Middle East & blues musician
* Save Lifta from developers and total erasure
* Dates for your diary

Sheikh Jarrah Evictions Court Case

Photo: Stop the Wall – Settlers at home of Mrs Al-Kurd

On 2^nd August, the Israeli Supreme Court is scheduled to decide whether it will hear the appeal from four families slated for eviction from Jerusalem’s Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood. The Al-Askafi, Al-Ja’ouni, Al-Qasem and Al-Kurd families appealed to the Supreme Court after they lost their case against forced eviction in the Jerusalem District Court when it ruled in favour of Nahalat Shimon International, the settler organization that claims ownership of the families’ homes without regard for the Palestinians being given these homes by the UN’s agency for refugees (UNRWA) when East Jerusalem was under Jordan’s control.

In total, 28 families, numbering about 550 people, are threatened with eviction following a decade of campaigning in opposition to settler take-over which is all part of the larger plan to Judaize East Jerusalem, an act described as a war crime by the UN.

The Israeli judicial system is known to act in the interests of its settler colonial policy, which is in violation of international law, in this case the Fourth Geneva Convention. Therefore, the four Palestinian families, comprised of six households, expect their appeal to be rejected unless international civil society acts immediately in pressurizing governments to intervene and end support for Israel.

* Contact your consulate in Palestine/Israel to request that she/he attend the court case on 2^nd August to demonstrate solidarity with the Palestinian families and that the consulate make known their respect for international law to be observed.
* The new UK Consul General is Diane Corner. Flood her with requests so she is aware of public support for the Palestinian people, and she must feed this back to the UK government. Email her on britain.jerusalem@fco.gov.uk . Follow her on twitter @Diane_Corner
* Use hashtags #SheikhJarrah, #SaveSheikhJarrah, #Palestineevictions
* For more understanding of what is happening in Sheikh Jarrah and the institutionalized discrimination within East Jerusalem see ICAHD UK’s webinar on the subject here .

The Australian Jewish Democratic Society featured Jeff in discussion with Noura Mansour, Palestinian educator, writer, activist and community organizer, originally from Acre, and Irving Wallach, barrister, son of Polish Holocaust survivors, board member of the New Israel Fund Australia and a Zionist on the left. Hear the recording here .

Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign invited Jeff to provide insight following the news that cell phones of human rights workers, journalists, dissidents and world leaders had been hacked by authoritarian governments and others using commercial spyware made by the NSO Group based in Israel. Jeff spoke about Israeli products used in surveillance and control technologies that are first field-tested on Palestinians and now exported to the world as tools of repression as part of “global Palestine”. Watch the webinar here .
ICAHD UK Webinar

Evictions, Demolitions & Displacement in
Sheikh Jarrah & Silwan:
Victims of Israeli Oppression & their Resistance

Photo: OCHA – demolition in Silwan

At present more than 100 buildings home to about 1500 people in the Al-Bustan area of Silwan, located just below the Dung Gate in Jerusalem’s Old City, are slated for demolition by Israeli authorities to make way for an archaeological park named City of David. North of Damacus Gate is the neighbourhood of Sheikh Jarrah where four Palestinian families face imminent forced eviction to be replaced by Jewish settlers and another 24 Palestinian families are also threatened with eviction from Sheikh Jarrah with around 550 people facing displacement.

This webinar will allow the international community to hear directly from Palestinians on the front line facing either demolition or eviction from their home in these communities where tension continues to rise. Hear what it is like to daily be confronted with extreme settler harassment and Israeli army and police brutality. The webinar will also include the latest news on how some Israeli lawyers are pressing for a new legal opinion that could change the fate of Sheikh Jarrah and Silwan eviction cases.

The webinar will end with actions that the international community can take to demonstrate solidarity and help end these violations.

1.  George, you are an American by birth so what is your connection to Palestine?

I was born in the United States to a Palestinian father and American mother. My father had come to the United States in 1946 to pursue a residency in eye surgery (prior to which he had opened an eye clinic in Gaza City), met my mother in Connecticut, her home state, married, and started a family. I was the fourth of five children.

2. While you were growing up, what part did Palestinian history and culture play in finding your identity?

Initially I had very little consciousness about our identity as such. However, what I did know was that I was part of a wonderful, loving family full of enchanting uncles and one aunt. They all doted on me and were truly marvellous people. So as I later became aware of our ethnic identity, it came with a very positive imprint. If these people (meaning my extended family) were Palestinians – then I was very lucky and proud to be one of them.

3.  When did you first visit Palestine and did being there, witnessing the reality, influence your activism in raising the issue in the US?

My initial naivete about the political dimensions of Palestinian identity changed drastically after the 1967 war. Like many in the Arab American community, my parents both sprang into action as public speakers, writers, and organizers. This was also the era of the civil rights/Black power and anti-Vietnam war movements, so I was swept up in all of that, and was pretty engaged in political activism myself as an early teen and high school student. That continued when I started university and joined the Organization of Arab Students which, in those days, was the key organization for all political work related to the Middle East on US campuses. As a native speaker of English and US passport holder, I was thrust into a spokesperson role fairly early, and obviously had to study up to be competent at that. The next big step was when I attended the American University of Beirut as a junior-year-abroad student in 1973-74. That was, for me, a year of supercharged political education on Palestine and
the region as a whole both in and outside of the classroom. It wasn’t until 1977, when I was in graduate school, that I visited Palestine for the first time. All that really did was confirm my strong conviction that Palestine was one of the most poorly understood examples of egregious injustice in the world – and it deepened my appreciation for the beauty and dignity of the Palestinian people.

Located on the slopes of Jerusalem, more than 2500 Palestinians used to reside in Lifta however during the war in 1948, they fled for their lives never to return. In the immediate years following the establishment of the state of Israel, over 200 buildings were destroyed in Lifta but 77 were left standing. At that time, authorities demolished around 600 Palestinian towns, villages and agricultural centres, according to Israeli organisation Zochrot which documents what happened during the Nakba. Therefore, Zochrot and others believe that the homes that remain in Lifta are of unique historical importance.

The homes are beautifully crafted from local Jerusalem stone, of the cubist style and represent some of the finest examples of Palestinian craftsmanship and architectural design. In 2018, the World Heritage Fund included Lifta on a list of 24 endangered heritage sites and at present it is being considered for official recognition by UNESCO as a world heritage site.

Palestinian-British architect Antoine Raffoul has spent more than a decade campaigning to save Lifta. “The village’s natural spring is even mentioned in the Bible and a settlement existed in the area as early as the Iron Age. It has developed over thousands of years and deserves preservation. This is a cultural war we’re fighting.”

Its days may be numbered because in May, the Isael Land Administration announced that it planned to issue a tender for Lifta’s redevelopment that threatens these ancient homes to make way for a luxurious development of 250 villas, hotels and shops. Should that happen, evidence of this Palestinian community will be erased forever and any chance of return by descendants of the original inhabitants which has remained one of their dreams will die.

On the ground the Save Lifta Coalition was formed with both Palestinian and Jewish Israeli members, who also value the village and who have been fighting for years to preserve this site.

Internationals can help save Lifta by signing the petition to UNESCO here . The link also includes a one-minute film that shows the beauty of Lifta.

Wednesday, 25th August at 5pm (UK) – ICAHD UK webinar – Evictions, Demolitions, and Displacement in Sheikh Jarrah and Silwan: Victims of Israeli oppression and their resistance. Further details and register here
Many thanks for your ongoing support. If you're not already a member of ICAHD UK, please consider joining us to enable our campaign to spread at this critical time in history.
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What YOU can do:

* Write to your political representative about the evictions as all must know what Israel is about to do. Ask that pressure is put upon Israel to stop the evictions. There must be consequences for Israeli authorities who continue to violate international law. Find your MP here (https://www.theyworkforyou.com/mp/) .

Jeff Halper's Participation in Recent Webinars

Invitations from around the world continue to be extended to ICAHD’s Jeff Halper for webinar participation. This month we feature links to two recordings that were held in July.

Wednesday, 25th August    5.00-6.15pm (UK time)

Israeli governmental authorities, in collusion with the Israeli courts, press on at speed in displacing Palestinians from their rightful homes across the West Bank and East Jerusalem so that they can be replaced with a Jewish population – a process defined as settler colonialism. This webinar will focus on East Jerusalem. In total at least 30,000 Palestinian families hold demolition orders in their hands and daily they awake wondering if today is when the bulldozers arrive and their home is demolished.

To register for the webinar click here.

ICAHD UK's Interview with George Bisharat Read the latest in our series of interviews with Palestinians and Israelis who support a one democratic state for all who reside in historic Palestine.

Read the full interview here...

Help Save Lifta Photo: Creative Commons The remains of the Palestinian village of Lifta are in danger of erasure if Israeli developers have their way.

Dates for Your Diary

Saturday, 31st July at 3.45pm (UK) – Cafe Palestine. UK-Palestine Mental Health Network presents  “The Challenges and Dilemmas facing mental health care activists during the last assault on Gaza (and the violent responses to protest in other parts of Palestine)”. Join the webinar via this link (https://us02web.zoom.us/s/84007728769?pwd=aGxPWnlRVnZ4Rnh4dDZ2OWlheGdHQT09)

— ICAHD (icahd.org)
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