The latest report from the U.N. on house demolitions includes the following information:
The Jerusalem Municipality this morning carried out two demolitions in East Jerusalem, both of houses under construction. In Ras al Ahmud (on the old Betlehem road), the Municipality demolished a Palestinian house of around 300 SF. The house belongs to a family of 7 people, including 5 children. In Sur Baher, the Municipality demolished a one-floor Palestinian house of around 1800 SF.
Neither family had moved in, so the U.N. counts them as affected not displaced.
But both families have lost the investment they had made in trying to build the homes so the impact is significant.
The UN also has gotten a report that the IDF is currently carrying out demolitions in the Bedouin community of Um ad Daraj, south-east of Hebron, not far from Karmel settlement in the occupied West Bank. According to initial reports, at least 2 water cisterns have been demolished.
Now as to the Sheikh Jarrah eviction cases, there is a court hearing scheduled for Thursday, 16 December at the Magistrates Court (Jerusalem): Nahalat Shimon Company v Daoudi family
On 6 April 2010, the Daoudi family received civil eviction proceedings from the Nahalat Shimon Company, which purchased rights/obligations from the Jewish Committees that originally brought proceedings against the Sheikh Jarrah families.
The Claimants have based their claim to evict the Daoudi family on alleged non-payment of rent, building extensions to the property without the necessary permits, and disturbance and threatening behavior to their neighbors (a reference to the settlers who have recently taken over the houses of evicted families in Sheikh Jarrah). The Daoudi family is named in a 1982 Agreement that includes other families who have allegedly agreed to the original ownership claims of the Jewish Committees.
On behalf of the Daoudi family, their lawyers have submitted a defence disputing all claims made by the Claimants.
The hearing is a preliminary review session. The Daoudi family is not in immediate threat of eviction from their home. As with other Sheikh Jarrah hearings, the families’ lawyers recommend as many people as possible attend the proceedings as observers. A good court presence should underline to the court the significance of the situation in Sheikh Jarrah, where families who have lived there for over 50 years are facing eviction.
