Yeshiva Suing to Evict 9 Arab Squatter Families from Eastern Jerusalem
By: JNi.Media Published: November 16th, 2016


Kfar HaShiloah (Silwan) Photo Credit: Rebecca Manski

Rightwing Ateret Cohanim Association this week submitted eviction suits
against nine Arab families in the Kfar HaShiloah (Silwan) neighborhood in
eastern Jerusalem, Ha’aretz reported Wednesday. To date, the association
has sued 72 Arab families it wants evicted, based on the fact that the
entire neighborhood belongs to Yemenite residents who settled there in
the early 1920s.

Kfar HaShiloah is located on the eastern slope of the Kidron Valley,
above the outlet of the Gihon Spring opposite the City of David.

In 2001, Ateret Cohanim was appointed by the Jerusalem district court to
be the trustees for Hekdesh Benbenishti, an association established in
1899 for the purpose of building the Yemenite neighborhood. Awarding the
trustee status was supported by the Justice Ministry. Since then, Ateret
Cohanim has been conducting a legal campaign against the Arab squatters
who took over the Jewish-owned homes following the 1949 armistice, when
the Jordanian Legion governed eastern Jerusalem. The bulk of these Arab
families took over the properties in the 1950s and 60s, and today there
are some 80 Arab families there.

Currently there are more than 50 Jewish families living in the area,
some in homes purchased from Arabs, some in Beit Yonatan, an apartment
building in the neighborhood, owned by Ateret Cohanim. Last year an
Arab family was evicted from what used to be the century-old Yemenite
synagogue, and the building has undergone renovations, complete with a
glow-at-night star of David on the rooftop. Two additional apartment
buildings have been redeemed over the past year, and are also being
renovated to accept future Jewish families.

According to Ha’aretz, the neighborhood sees daily clashes between Arabs
and Jews, often requiring intervention by police and Jewish security
personnel. The process of removing the Arab squatters promises to be
lengthy, but the Ateret Cohanim association, which has been at it for
15 years already, expects big rewards in terms of establishing a major,
thriving Jewish neighborhood in eastern Jerusalem.

In 2014, White House spokesman Josh Earnest described the new, legal
occupants of Kfar HaShiloah as “individuals who are associated with
an organization whose agenda, by definition, stokes tensions between
Israelis and Palestinians.” Prime minister Netanyahu was “baffled”
by the criticism, deeming it “un-American.”

Attorney Avraham Moshe Segal, representing Ateret Cohanim, noted that
“various courts, led by the Supreme Court, have determined that the
hekdesh is the exclusive owner of these lands, and we expect that the
courts’ rulings be honored precisely.” JNi.Media

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