Recorded on May 6, 2021

For a list of resources shared during this webinar, scroll down

The struggle in Sheikh Jarrah is again on center stage this week. Once again, Palestinians in Sheikh Jarrah are facing imminent evictions, approved by Israeli courts.  And once again, Palestinians of Sheikh Jarrah are resisting efforts to remove them from their longtime homes — and they are once again being met with violence and repression from Israeli authorities and settlers.

To discuss this struggle and the dynamics in Jerusalem, and how they are part of a broader struggle against escalating Israeli policies of Palestinian dispossession in Jerusalem and beyond, FMEP President Lara Friedman will be joined by Aseel AlBajeh, a legal researcher and advocacy officer at Al Haq, and Budour Hassan, author and journalist.

Panelists

Aseel AlBajeh is a legal researcher and advocacy officer at Al-Haq, a Palestinian human rights organisation. Aseel was awarded the Ireland-Palestine Scholarship Programme to study at the Irish Center for Human Rights at National University of Ireland Galway, completing her LL.M. in International Human Rights Law in 2020. In addition to her academic research, which focused on transitional justice and decolonisation in Palestine, she writes opinion articles for several media outlets including the Electronic Intifada, AlJazeera Blogs and the New Arab. She tweets at @AseelAlBajeh. 

Budour Hassan is a Palestinian writer, journalist, and legal researcher based in Jerusalem. Her work has appeared on Al Jazeera, Middle East Eye, Huffington Post, and Mada Masr, among other outlets.

Moderator 

Lara Friedman is the President of the Foundation for Middle East Peace (FMEP). With more than 25 years working in the Middle East foreign policy arena, Lara is a leading authority on U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East, with particular expertise on the Israeli-Arab conflict, Israeli settlements, Jerusalem, and the role of the U.S. Congress. She is published widely in the U.S. and international press and is regularly consulted by members of Congress and their staffs, by Washington-based diplomats, by policy-makers in capitals around the world, and by journalists in the U.S. and abroad. In addition to her work at FMEP, Lara is a Contributing Writer at Jewish Currents and a non-resident fellow at the U.S./Middle East Project (USMEP). Prior to joining FMEP, Lara was the Director of Policy and Government Relations at Americans for Peace Now, and before that she was a U.S. Foreign Service Officer, serving in Jerusalem, Washington, Tunis and Beirut. She tweets @LaraFriedmanDC

 

RESOURCES SHARED DURING THIS WEBINAR

From the Panelists

Follow our panelists and the organizations they represent on Twitter: 

• Aseel AlBajeh: https://twitter.com/AseelAlBajeh
• Al Haq @alhaq_org  https://twitter.com/alhaq_org
• The Jerusalem Legal Aid & Human Rights Center –> @AdvocacyJlac https://twitter.com/AdvocacyJlac
• Lara Friedman https://twitter.com/LaraFriedmanDC

Budour Hassan has published on many platforms (Middle East Eye, Al Jazeera, Huffington Post. A recent  longform piece of writing is “Epigraph: Palestinians do not leave the labyrinth even after their death,” published on Mada Masr. → https://www.madamasr.com/en/2020/08/30/opinion/u/epigraph/\

And Budour has a blog (not recently updated but full of valuable writing) → https://budourhassan.wordpress.com/

If you want to keep up with what is happening in real time, follow the #SaveSheikhJarrah hashtag on Twitter

Overview of Events in Sheikh Jarrah this Week

• For an overview of what is happening in Sheikh Jarrah, see this piece in Al Jazeera by Linah Alsaafin: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/5/1/what-is-happening-in-occupied-east-jerusalems-sheikh-jarrah
• Ir Amim has a succinct brief on the legal pretexts for dispossession that Israel is using to displace Palestinians in Sheikh Jarrah and Silwan: https://www.ir-amim.org.il/sites/default/files/Mass%20Palestinian%20Displacement%20from%20the%20Old%20City%20Basin%20-%20Full%20Version.pdf
• The four Sheikh Jarrah families facing dispossession released this statement in response to the agreement (mentioned just now by Aseel) proposed by Israeli Courts: https://twitter.com/m7mdkurd/status/1388848768041299970/photo/1 
• Sheikh Jarrah Families Send Letter to the International Criminal Court Calling for Urgent Investigation of their Imminent Forced Displacement, Endorsed by 190 Organisations https://www.alhaq.org/advocacy/18240.html
• Peace Now, Emek Shaveh, and Ir Amim (3 Israeli organizations focused on settlements and Jerusalem) teamed up to produce this legal analysis and call to action to stop Palestinian dispossession across East Jerusalem: https://peacenow.org.il/en/the-threat-of-mass-palestinian-displacement-in-east-jerusalem

Background on Sheikh Jarrah

• FMEP hosted a webinar in December 2020 with two (more) Palestinian experts on Sheikh Jarrah and disposession – Fayrouz Sharqawi and Mohammed El-Kurd. It was a powerful discussion. You can watch it here: https://fmep.org/resource/impending-evictions-and-the-struggle-to-live-in-east-jerusalem-palestinians-in-sheikh-jarrah/
• On the Shamasneh family’s eviction, which Aseel just mentioned —> https://www.alhaq.org/advocacy/6320.html
• To understand what life is like for Palestinians in Sheikh Jarrah, see “Living Under Israeli Policies of Colonization in Jerusalem” → https://www.alhaq.org/advocacy/6359.html
• “Twice refugees: Palestinians in Jerusalem at imminent risk of losing their homes to Israeli settlers” https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/twice-refugees-residents-jerusalem-neighbourhood-threatened-eviction
• “Annexing A City: Israel’s Illegal Measures to Annex Jerusalem Since 1948” by Al Haq https://www.alhaq.org/publications/16855.html
• Wujood: The Grassroots Guide to Jerusalem, by Grassroots Al-Quds: https://gumroad.com/l/BafT
• The Real Map of Jerusalem, by Grassroots Al-Quds: https://gumroad.com/l/qSdes
• This +972 magazine article by Amjad Iraqi analyzes the 2017 effort to remove the metal detectors, among other efforts —> “Palestinians are reviving their agency in Jerusalem” https://www.972mag.com/palestinians-are-reviving-their-agency-in-jerusalem/

Scenes & Voices from Sheikh Jarrah

• “In Sheikh Jarrah, Palestinian youth are leading the struggle to defend their homes” →  https://www.972mag.com/sheikh-jarrah-palestinian-youth/
• Mohammed El-Kurd, whose home is under direct threat of eviction, was featured along with his family in the Just Vision film “My Neighbourhood” → https://justvision.org/myneighbourhood
  • This is an article that Mohammed El-Kurd wrote about his grandmother, Rifqa El-Kurd —> “My Grandmother, Icon of Palestinian Resilience,” in The Nation —> https://www.thenation.com/article/world/palestinian-grandmother-resistance/
  • In late 2020, Mohammed published two pieces about the struggle in Sheikh Jarrah
    • → “Why are Palestinians being forced to prove their humanity?” https://www.972mag.com/palestinian-humanization-sheikh-jarrah/
    • → “Tomorrow My Family and Neighbors May Be Forced from Our Homes by Israeli Settlers” in The Nation → https://www.thenation.com/article/world/east-jerusalem-settlers/
  • You can continue to follow Mohammed’s story by following him on Twitter. He is documenting his experience being in Sheikh Jarrah and fighting to save his family home → https://twitter.com/m7mdkurd
  • A recent video that went viral on social media shows a Muna El Kurd (Mohammed’s sister) speaking to an Israeli settler, saying ““Ya’acob, you know this is not your house.” He tells her, “Yes, but if I go, you don’t go back, so what’s the problem?” the settler responds. “If I don’t steal it [the house], someone else is going to steal it,” he continues. → https://twitter.com/Abd_HajYahia/status/1388378494518845440?s=20
• Video clips of Israel forces raiding homes in Sheikh Jarrah on Monday night: https://twitter.com/MiddleEastEye/status/1389686269718921216
• A powerful op-ed by Jawad Siyam, Palestinian community organizer in Silwan —> “Intimidation. Extortion. Eviction: This Is the Brutal Reality for Palestinians in Silwan, Jerusalem” https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/palestinians-jerusalem-israel-silwan-brutal-reality-1.9701623

On the Settlers & the Israeli Laws Behind Dispossession in East Jerusalem

• Analysis of Israeli laws permitting Jews to reclaim property abandoned in 1948 (but not Palestinians):
  • From Ir Amim: https://www.ir-amim.org.il/sites/default/files/Mass%20Palestinian%20Displacement%20from%20the%20Old%20City%20Basin%20-%20Full%20Version.pdf
  • From Peace Now: https://peacenow.org.il/en/%d9%8dsheikh-jarrah-appeal-rejected-160221
  • From Peace Now, Ir Amim, and Emek Shaveh: https://peacenow.org.il/en/the-threat-of-mass-palestinian-displacement-in-east-jerusalem
  • Specifically on the Absentee Property Law: https://www.ir-amim.org.il/sites/default/files/Absentees_against_their_will.pdf
  • Specifically on the Legal and Administrative Matters Law of 1970: https://peacenow.org.il/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Legal-papaer-batan-sheikh-jarrah-eng.pdf
• For more on what the settler organization Nahalat Shimon is doing in Sheikh Jarrah, see this brief by Peace Now: https://peacenow.org.il/en/%d9%8dsheikh-jarrah-appeal-rejected-160221

What Now?

• Here is a list of ACTION opportunities, compiled by Mohammed El-Kurd: https://linktr.ee/m7mdkurd/
• From Peace Now, Ir Amim, and Emek Shaveh: https://peacenow.org.il/en/the-threat-of-mass-palestinian-displacement-in-east-jerusalem