Israel Cops Nab A Dozen Palestinians In Overnight Demolition

Israeli police carried out a demolition order and arrested over a dozen people in the flashpoint East Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah early Wednesday morning, heading off a two-day struggle between a local family and the Jerusalem Municipality, Nir Hasson and Jack Khoury reported for Haaretz.

Photo Insert: Israeli Police conducting an operation

Five years ago, the municipality announced that it was expropriating the land to build a school there. Since then, the Salhiye family has fought a legal battle to head off their eviction, but they have been unable to prove ownership of the property.

In any event, even if they could prove that they own the land, the municipality has the right to expropriate it for public purposes in exchange for monetary compensation.

The Sheikh Jarrah community has become a symbol of defiance to the Israeli occupation as the families living there have opposed the plan of the Israeli government to kick them out as the houses there were supposedly originally owned by Jews.

Many of those who demanded the right to recover their property have failed to show proof they descended from the Jews who lived there. The Palestinian families also opposed a scheme proposed by the Israeli Supreme Court to just pay the Jewish claimants to legitimize their stay in the village.

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