Meet Mohammed al-Sabbagh, a sprightly Palestinian plumber in his early 70s who has lived in Sheikh Jarrah since 1956. Today he has become an unofficial spokesperson for one of the most contentious flashpoints in Palestine.
Dozens of Palestinians in the occupied East Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah, who were set to be forcibly removed from their homes on Sunday, May 2, were given four more days by the Israeli Supreme Court to “reach an agreement” with the very settlers who have been attempting to force them from their homes for decades now. Members of the six families who are fighting to remain in their homes said they “firmly reject” the terms of such an agreement, “for these are our homes and the settlers are not our landlords.”
Palestinian Christians and their supporters are urging Pope Francis and the World Council of Churches to intervene in more than a dozen evictions in Jerusalem “scheduled to take place on Sunday, May 2, which happens to coincide with the Greek Orthodox celebration of Easter.”
In a matter of just two weeks, six Palestinian families, numbering 27 people, from the occupied East Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah will be thrown out of their homes and into the street, and replaced with Israeli settlers. Now residents are doubling down on the campaign to #SaveSheikhJarrah.
The Christmas tree is up at the entrance to the Imperial Hotel in Jerusalem, but for its Palestinian hosts there is little festive cheer amid fears they could be evicted in favour of Israeli settlers, the AFP reports.
Israeli soldiers killed a Palestinian for throwing stones last week, but when settler youths threw stones at soldiers to prevent the evacuation of a settlement, they were treated with kid gloves. That Israeli-Jewish settlement outpost was evacuated without a shot; while scores of Palestinians are massacred on the border.