"Israel must allow evicted Arab families to return home" -- Haaretz editorial

The al Ghawi and al Hanoun families are staying across the street in tents from the houses they were illegally evicted from by the Israeli authorities. Refugees for a second time, the families have nowhere to go.

Haaretz, an Israeli newspaper published the following strongly worded editorial regarding the eviction:

The eviction of two Palestinian families from their homes in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah, in order to replace them with Jewish families, predictably sparked harsh condemnations. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton urged the government to refrain from such actions, which she described as "provocative."

Sweden, which holds the European Union's rotating presidency, asserted that the evictions were illegal, while UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Robert Serry said they were violations of both the Geneva Conventions and Israel's obligations under the road map peace plan.

The sight of the evicted Palestinian families, who had lived in these houses for decades, paints Israel in the world's eyes as a country that maintains a cruel regime of occupation, oppresses the weak and strives to create political facts in the disputed city under the guise of the "rule of law."

But for all its importance, this international criticism is not what makes the eviction of these families completely unacceptable. A democratic state that strives for peace and justice simply has no right to uproot families who became refugees in 1948. They left homes in West Jerusalem behind them, and were subsequently granted modest accommodations by the Jordanian government. The claim that the houses in Sheikh Jarrah were purchased by Jews in the early 1900s is a double-edged sword that opens a political and legal Pandora's box.

No thinking person will be persuaded that Jews have a sweeping right to return to their homes in East Jerusalem as long as Israeli law not only bars Palestinians from returning to their homes in West Jerusalem, but even evicts them from the houses where they have lived for the last 60 years. The Israel Lands Administration's regulations do not even allow Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem to buy land and houses in many parts of the city.

The least that can be expected of a state that legalized the expropriation of thousands of dunams in East Jerusalem to build 50,000 apartments for its citizens is to once and for all deprive extremists of the right to turn Jerusalem into an obstacle to peace and a stumbling block to reconciliation between the two peoples that inhabit this city.

The government must immediately return the Palestinian residents to their homes in Sheikh Jarrah and cancel the eviction orders that have been issued against additional houses. And the neighborhood's fate must be determined via diplomatic negotiations.

Settlements ARE an obstacle to peace!

Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak has authorized the building of 300 new homes in the West Bank, defying U.S. calls for a halt to settlement growth according to an article in the Israeli newspaper, Haaretz today.

Interestingly, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insists that international concerns regarding settlement activity are impeding the Middle East peace process. However, the EU and the United States view Israeli settlement activity in the West Bank as an OBSTACLE to peace.

Israeli Human Rights Organization, BTselem, explains exactly why settlement activity in the occupied West Bank is an obstacle to peace:

As part of the regime, Israel has stolen thousands of dunams of land from the Palestinians. On this land, Israel has established dozens of settlements in which hundreds of thousands of Israeli civilians now live. Israel forbids Palestinians to enter and use these lands and uses the settlements to justify numerous violations of Palestinian rights, such as the right to housing, to earn a living, and freedom of movement. The sharp changes Israel made to the map of the West Bank make a viable Palestinian state impossible as part of the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination.

BTselem goes on to argue the illegality of the settlements within the framework of international humanitarian law:

The establishment of settlements in the West Bank violates international humanitarian law which establishes principles that apply during war and occupation. Moreover, the settlements lead to the infringement of international human rights law.

The Fourth Geneva Convention prohibits an occupying power from transferring citizens from its own territory to the occupied territory (Article 49).

Learn More About Sabeel!

Meet the Rev. Naim Ateek, the founder and director of Sabeel: Watch this short video from a Sabeel conference prepared by Friends of Sabeel North America. Bishop Desmond Tutu, a good friend of Sabeel and the Rev. Naim Ateek speak out against the apartheid like injustices that Palestinian Muslims and Christians encounter on a daily basis.

Understand Sabeel's politics: Sabeel's Jerusalem Document outlines the movement's vision for a just peace. This document was written in 2000 but is still representative of Sabeel's position today.

Sabeel promotes nonviolence and condemns all forms of violence, Israeli and Palestinian: One form of nonviolent action that Sabeel promotes is morally responsible investment. Learn how as an individual or as an organization, you can make a difference by reading this Sabeel document.

During this Lenten season, Sabeel is organizing community Lenten programs in Jerusalem and the West Bank to encourage spiritual growth during this time of reflection. Today the program was held in East Jerusalem.

Before the participants went to the Melkite Church, everyone went to Silwan (the area called, al Bustan, mentioned in my last post, is inside of the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan) to demonstrate solidarity with the residents threatened with eviction (see the March 5th post on this blog). Rabbi Arik Ascherman, from Rabbis for Human Rights, was also there and spoke out against the injustices that the eviction notices constitute.