The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates today accused the Israeli judiciary of being complicit in the government’s ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in occupied East Jerusalem.
It said in a statement reacting to the Israeli High Court ruling yesterday on an appeal by four Palestinian families in Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of East Jerusalem that despite the presentation of documents obtained from Jordan that prove ownership of the families of their homes, the court nevertheless refused to recognize these legal documents and accept the facts about ownership of the homes.
Despite this fact, said the ministry, the court attempted to circumvent their right to their homes by pressuring the families to recognize the settlers’ ownership of the land and houses in return for staying in their homes for a long but limited period of time.
It said the court used deceit and duplicity as it searched for ways to support the settlers’ allegations and claims of ownership of the Palestinian land and homes.
“The occupation courts play a racist role with regard to the displacement of Palestinian families from their homes in Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood for a political end that does not have legal reference in order to reach one goal and that is to legitimize the settlers’ claims of ownership of the land, and to whitewash the forged documents they submitted,” said the Foreign Ministry.
“This racism is clear and repetitive in all cases in Jerusalem that are considered by the Israeli occupation courts and is a part of an expansionist colonial strategy based on an attempt to provide legal immunity for the Judaization and Israelization of Jerusalem and its holy places, and the ethnic cleansing of the largest possible number of its indigenous population,” it added.
The Foreign Ministry condemned the decisions issued by the Israeli courts regarding Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood, considering them as further evidence that the Israeli judicial system is an integral part of the occupation and a tool for serving colonial settlement plans.
It welcomed the international positions issued yesterday, which affirmed the right of the families to stay in their homes, foremost of which was the position of the US State Department and the United Nations.
The Foreign Ministry stressed, however, that these positions are insufficient and they should be translated into practical steps that oblige the Israeli occupation state to immediately recognize the right of the families of Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood to own their homes without any delay and to stop displacing the city’s Palestinian citizens.
Source: Palestinian News & Info Agency