Israeli officials have asked the US administration of President Joe Biden to put pressure on the Palestinian families of Sheikh Jarrah to accept the court’s proposal that they pay rent to settler organizations in return for becoming ‘protected tenants’, Haaretz reported yesterday.
On Monday, Israel’s Supreme Court proposed that Palestinian residents of the occupied Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah be given “protected tenants” status in return for them recognizing the and settler organization’s ownership of the land in the area and paying it a rent of 1,500 shekels ($467) each year.
I’m inside the Israeli Supreme Court Sheikh Jarrah hearing where the entire proceedings are now taking place in Hebrew only. Despite the fact that all the Palestinian residents -who are facing losing homes -speak Arabic there are no Hebrew to Arabic translators at all. @VICENews
— Hind Hassan (@HindHassanNews) August 2, 2021
Judge Yitzhak Amit said that accepting this compromise would postpone the imminent eviction of the Palestinian families, which has been the focus of international concern.
The Palestinian families did not accept the proposal, and the judges issued a seven-day window for a list of the names of the Palestinians who would accept it to be submitted.
Haaretz reported a political Israeli source saying that international pressure regarding Sheikh Jarrah should be placed on the Palestinians, claiming that the Israeli court’s proposal is good for them.
While israelis are given free rein to the Palestinian streets of Sheikh Jarrah, its real residents are locked in their homes #SaveSheikhJarrah pic.twitter.com/WhLUFORHn4
— Sarah Wilkinson (@swilkinsonbc) July 31, 2021
Another Israeli source, also reported by Haaretz, said that the Biden Administration “is worried about the eviction” of Palestinians.
The Israeli newspaper said that there is a prevailing feeling in Israel that a court’s ruling could put Israel in the heart of “unprecedented confrontation” with different countries, including friendly ones.
(MEMO, PC, Social Media)
