50 Palestinians evicted from Jerusalem homes

[jimmy olsen]

Not as stupid as the OMG ISRAEL = HITLER crowd...you know people like you.  But then the OMG ISLAM IZ DA FASCIST crowd cancels you out.

Anyway I am not sure what sort of stupid game Israel is playing but they seem to be working hard to tweak our noses and make Obama look foolish.

Sorry. When I read accounts of inferior races being moved out of their homes that they might be given to settlers, the first example that comes to mind is the Third Reich.

The first example that comes to my mind is the Trail of Tears.

[Siege]

(IsraelNN.com) Two Arab families were evicted from Jewish-owned homes in the Shimon HaTzaddik neighborhood of Jerusalem on Sunday morning. The evictions took place following a Supreme Court ruling in which the court found in favor of Jewish families who claimed ownership of homes in the area.
The evictions took place without unusual disturbances, police said.
The Arab families claimed that they owned the houses in which they lived. Jewish families argued that they were the legal owners of the homes, and that the Arabs had squatted there illegally in an attempt to wrest control of the property from its rightful owners. 
     The Arab families presented documents that appeared to show Arab ownership of the homes dating back to the Ottoman period. However, the court found that the documents had been forged, and that the documents presented by the Jewish plaintiffs were legitimate.
The neighborhood in question is located near the 2,000-year-old gravesite of the sage Shimon HaTzaddik. The neighborhood was founded in the first half of the 20th century by Jewish families, but fell under Jordanian rule following the 1948 War of Independence and was quickly populated by Jordanian Arabs.
Since the reunification of Jerusalem under Israeli rule in 1967, a number of Jewish families have moved back into the area. Their arrival has been greeted with hostility from local Arabs and from the Palestinian Authority, which has demanded control over the neighborhood as part of a future Arab capital city in Jerusalem.
Jewish activists have fought several legal battles in recent years regarding properties in Jerusalem and in Shimon HaTzaddik in particular. Activists say they are undeterred by the difficulties of regaining control of Jewish property, and plan to continue their efforts to reestablish a Jewish presence in historic Jerusalem neighborhoods.

[Siege]

It should be noted that in a normal country those palestinians would have been charged with forgery, lacerny, and who know what else, plus forced to compensate the owners for lost rental value over the years. This being Israel, the squatters just got an slap in the wrist and a "good luck next time".

[Martinus]

LOL the article posted by Siege seems like an agit-prop. 

[Siege]

[Martinus]

Palestinians evicted in Jerusalem
Israeli police have evicted nine Palestinian families living in two houses in occupied East Jerusalem.

Jewish settlers moved into the houses almost immediately. The US has urged Israel to abandon plans for a building project in the area.

Israel occupied East Jerusalem in 1967 and later annexed it, a move not recognised by the world community.

The evictions have been condemned by the United Nations, the Palestinians and also the UK government.

The US said the evictions were not in keeping with Israel's obligations under the so-called "road map" to resolve the Israel-Palestinian conflict.

'Deplorable'

The operation to evict the 53 Palestinians in the Sheikh Jarrah district of the city was carried out before dawn on Sunday by police clad in black riot gear.

It followed a ruling by Israel's Supreme Court that Jewish families owned the land. Israel wants to build a block of 20 apartments in the area.

The evictions were quickly condemned by the United Nations.

"I deplore today's totally unacceptable actions by Israel," the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Robert H Serry said. "These actions are contrary to the provisions of the Geneva Conventions related to occupied territory.

"These actions heighten tensions and undermine international efforts to create conditions for fruitful negotiations to achieve peace," Mr Perry said.

Palestinian negotiator Sayeb Erekat said: "Tonight, while these new settlers from abroad will be accommodating themselves and their belongings in these Palestinian houses, 19 newly homeless children will have nowhere to sleep."

Sovereignty 'unquestionable'

Israel considers a united Jerusalem to be the capital of the state of Israel.

"Our sovereignty over it is unquestionable," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said last month.

"We cannot accept the idea that Jews will not have the right to live and buy [homes] anywhere in Jerusalem."

The BBC's Tim Franks in Jerusalem says the houses are in what is probably the most contested city on earth and the diplomatic ripples from the evictions will spread.

The UK joined in the condemnation of the evictions. "These actions are incompatible with the Israeli professed desire for peace," the British Consulate in East Jerusalem said. "We urge Israel not to allow the extremists to set the agenda."

There are an estimated 250,000 Palestinians living in East Jerusalem and 200,000 Jews.

[HVC]

Jewish families argued that they were the legal owners of the homes, and that the Arabs had squatted there illegally in an attempt to wrest control of the property from its rightful owners. 

Ironies of ironies

[Siege]

Jewish families argued that they were the legal owners of the homes, and that the Arabs had squatted there illegally in an attempt to wrest control of the property from its rightful owners. 

Ironies of ironies

What's so funny?

[Siege]

Martinus, have you ever met a muslim in his natural habitat?

[Eddie Teach]

Martinus, have you ever met a muslim in his natural habitat?

Are you inviting him home?

[Admiral Yi]

What's so funny?

The Arab property seized after 48.

[Jos Theelen]

If I understand this story, the court agrees with the eviction, based on ownership-rights from before 1948.

How can that be true in a country that only exists since 1948? What will this mean for ownership-rights of Palestinians who lived in Israel before 1948 and were evicted or fled the new country?

[Martinus]

Yeah, it's fishy.

Essentially, the problem here is twofold: (1) was Israeli law applied correctly, and (2) were there grounds to actually apply Israeli law.

The first question is one I cannot answer - but it seems that if it was applied correctly, then it means 50 years of uninterrupted possession do not cure lack of title to the property. That position would be, if not unprecedented, at least quite extraordinary, since most legal systems recognize that the title to property can be cured by uninterrupted possession, even if the property was acquired in bad faith in the first place - this is to prevent legal uncertainty, since otherwise some property could be "tainted" for ever, effectively being removed from legal circulation. For example, in Polish law you acquire title to a property after 20 years of uninterrupted possession if it was acquired in good faith, and after 30 years even if it was acquired in bad faith; since our law is based on German law, I imagine it is similar in at least Central and Eastern Europe.

Then there is the question as to whether the law should have been applied at all - this is an occupied territory, not a territory of Israel, and as such extending real property laws of the occupant to real property situated in the occupied territory seems to contravene international conventions.

So yeah, as I said, the Israeli Supreme Court's legal reasoning requires us to make at least a couple of legal "leaps of faith" here - of course we can't really tell for sure without more details.

[Iormlund]

Fairly stupid move even if it was owned by Jews before 1948.

[Martinus]

Fairly stupid move even if it was owned by Jews before 1948.

Bet noone said that in 1949.