53 Palestinians Evicted from their homes

During the Sabeel Young Adult Conference, the group met with Umm Kamel. Umm Kamel is a Palestinian lady from the Sheikh Jarrah area of East Jerusalem. This area has recently been faced with threat from Israeli Settlers to take over this area. Numerous families have received eviction orders over the past few years. Um Kamel was one such lady. Her and her husband used to live in a home in the area of Sheikh Jarrah. I have visited Um Kamel several times, and have heard from her story. Seven years ago, settlers took over half of the couple's house. They lived there until last October, when they took over the remaining part of the house. Um Kamel remembers police surrounding the entire area in the middle of the night. Then two women came in to throw her out of her room. She asked for a minute to grab her head scarf, because she is a devout Muslim, but they would not let her. The police threw her and her husband out of their house, with all of their furniture. Her husband, who was not in good health, had a heart attack from the shock and died a few days later. Um Kamel was then forced to pay a fine, the cost of having her luggage taken away to junk yard! To see her story is heart wrenching and touched the hearts of all the participants. Now, Um Kamel lives in a tent in a parking lot near to where her house currently stands with settlers living inside. The tent has been demolished 6 times, but people keep building it. Her tent has become a rallying point for Palestinians to fight against the endless challenges they face. It has become a symbol of their non-violent resistance. While we were visiting with Um Kamel, we also heard to stories of two families, the Al Hanoun family and Al Ghawi family, who have been given eviction orders, which could be carried out at any time.

Last Saturday night/ Sunday morning, police surrounded the area of Sheikh Jarrah. Um Kamel's tent was demolished for the sixth time. The Al Hanoun and Al Ghawi were evicted from their homes. There are 53 people in these two families. Now they sit in chairs across from their homes, that they now cannot enter, because they have nowhere to sleep. This news came on the last day of Sabeel's Young Adult Conference. When we passed by at 9 am, police still surrounded the area, keeping out media and international activists. People are shocked and outraged over the policies of Israel that allow families, who have lived in their homes since 1956 and have land deeds dating back to the Ottoman Empire, to still be kicked out of their homes.

Read more about it on the NY Times and Al-Jazeera.