Open Shuhada Street condemns settlement activity in Sheikh Jarrah and attack on Israeli human rights and Shministism activist

1. Sheik Jarrah is a neighborhood in East Jerusalem. Jews call the area Simon the Just. The Palestinian residents settled there after fleeing from their homes in Haifa, West Jerusalem and other parts of Israel during the 1948 war. Property titles were promised to them but were never delivered. There are now 28 families, comprising over 500 people that face possible eviction.

2. Weekly non-violent protests take place in Sheikh Jarrah, where many hundreds of Israelis, Palestinians and internationals gather to protest the forcible and unlawful eviction of Palestinian families from their homes in East Jerusalem. The Jerusalem District Police has unlawfully dispersed the demonstrations, arresting demonstrators without legal grounds in order to discourage and intimidate them. The Jerusalem Magistrate's Court expressed its support for demonstrations at the site when it ruled the protests legal and ordered the immediate release of detained activists.[1] “The police are taking the right to demonstrate 30 years backward,” Supreme Court President Dorit Beinisch said during deliberations.

3. One of the protest organizers is prominent Israeli Defense Force (IDF) conscientious objector, Sahar M. Vardi, whom Open Shuhada Street (OSS) brought out to South Africa as part of the Shministim tour in 2009. While in South Africa she delivered the annual Ashley Kriel Memorial Lecture and appeared on the popular television programme 'Judge for Yourself'. Vardi has now been threatened. On Wednesday 11 March right wing Jewish settlers sprayed the words "Leftists out," "Israel destroyer" and "Price tag for Sheikh Jarrah" on the wall of Vardi's family home in Jerusalem.[2]

4. In response to the attack, Vardi has said she will not be deterred. She continues to be motivated by her sense of responsibility, “Everything I do is because I care and because I want to continue living here, and because I believe that there is injustice and we have to fight it to change the situation.”

5. In recent weeks Jewish settlers have also sprayed hate graffiti, broken car windows and thrown stones at Palestinian residents in Sheikh Jarrah, while the Israel Police do nothing to protect the Palestinians or reign in violent settlers. It is therefore not surprising that settler violence has reached Israelis in West Jerusalem neighbourhoods and elsewhere.

6. Tensions in Sheikh Jarrah escalated in August 2009, when 38 members of the Ghawi family were evicted from their two-story stone house and immediately replaced by a group of extremist Israeli nationalists. Two other Sheikh Jarrah families have since been removed in a similar manner. No alternative accommodation is provided for the evicted families. Israeli Policy in East Jerusalem

Israeli Policy in East Jerusalem

7. Current Israeli action in Sheikh Jarrah is part of a wider policy in East Jerusalem, enacted by the Israeli government since its annexation in 1967, to create a demographic and geographic situation that will thwart any future attempt to challenge Israeli sovereignty over the city. To achieve this goal, the government has successfully increased the number of Jews, and reduced the number of Palestinians, living in the city. While constructing 90,000 housing units for Jews in East Jerusalem, the municipality has intentionally created a shortage of 25,000 housing units for Palestinians. Since 1967, 60,000 Palestinians have lost their residency rights in East Jerusalem.[3]

8. It must be remembered that in 1947, when the UN voted to partition Palestine into two states, one Jewish one Arab, Jerusalem was designated as a neutral international city. After the 1948/49 war Jerusalem was divided between Israel and the Jordanian occupied West Bank. In 1967 Israel conquered all of Jerusalem, and soon thereafter illegally annexed it, attempting to make it Israeli territory. This move is not recognized by a single country and therefore there are no foreign embassies in Jerusalem. East Jerusalem remains largely populated by Palestinians who were given residency of Jerusalem but not citizenship of Israel. Since 1967 over 200,000 Jews have settled illegally in East Jerusalem.[4]

9. Israel has used various methods to achieve its goal: a. Physically isolating East Jerusalem from the rest of the West Bank, in part by building the separation barrier; b. Discriminating in land expropriation, planning, and building, and demolition of houses; c. Revoking residency and social benefits of Palestinians who stay abroad for at least seven years, or who are unable to prove that their center of life is in Jerusalem; d. Unfairly dividing the budget between the two parts of the city, with harmful effects on infrastructure and services in East Jerusalem.5 As recently as last week, the Israeli Interior Ministry announced plans to build 1600 new homes in annexed East Jerusalem in violation of international law and all previous peace agreements.

10. Israel’s policy gravely infringes upon the rights of residents of East Jerusalem and breaches international law. East Jerusalem is occupied territory and has been recognized as such by the International Court of Justice in its Advisory Opinion in the case concerning the Legal Consequences of the Construction of a Wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (2004). Therefore, it is subject, as is the rest of the West Bank, to the provisions of international humanitarian law that relate to occupied territory.

OSS Condemns Israeli Policy and Action in East Jerusalem

11. The arrest of Israeli non-violent human rights activists and threats lodged at Sahar M Vardi is evidence not only of the ongoing flagrant disregard shown for Palestinians' basic rights but also the breakdown of Israeli democracy. Israeli human rights activists now fear attack from their own government and society. We must speak out on human rights issues. Those who are silent now are assisting the destruction of democracy in Israel. Silence also assists the further dispossession of Palestinians.

12. Sahar is our friend and we admire the work she does. She has spent years actively working with Palestinians in non-violent action against the occupation, as well as working within Israel as part of the Shministim contentious objectors. Sahar has spent several months in jail for refusing to serve. Her commitment to justice is an inspiration to us and we fully support her in the active role she has taken in the struggle against occupation, discrimination and denial of rights.

13. OSS is a worldwide campaign against the violation of Palestinian human rights in Hebron, a city of over 160 000 people in Israeli‐occupied West Bank. It was started by a group of South African activists in 2009 as a result of their experience visiting Hebron and being witness to endemic abuse of human rights by both sides, especially by the Israeli government.

14. OSS calls for:

a. The immediate cessation of the illegal settlement of Israeli Jews in the Sheikh Jarrah and surrounding neighborhoods of East Jerusalem.

b. An immediate police investigation into the intimidation of Sahar M Vardi by extremists.

c. An immediate investigation into the conditions of the unlawful arrests of Sheikh Jarrah demonstrators, and clarification on the Israeli law of protest action.

d. The removal of Israeli jurisdiction over annexed East Jerusalem.

15. We call on all organizations and persons of conscience to support the demands contained in this press release by endorsing this document. OSS extends their support to all non-violent resistance actions and the activists, residents and protesters involved in resisting Israel's unjust and aggressive policy in East Jerusalem. We call on resistors to remain peaceful and refrain from any acts of violence. Let it be clear who the aggressor is. We are committed to supporting all those struggling for a just and free society, in which the rights of all, whether Jew or Arab, Christian or Muslim, are guaranteed and enjoyed.

If you would like to be express solidarity directly to Sahar Vardi please send us an email via the contact form.

Footnotes.

1 http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1154338.html; http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3857813,00.html

2 http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1156767.html; http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3861228,00.html

3 http://www.icahd.org/eng/faq.asp?menu=9&submenu=1

4 http://www.jcser.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=291&It...

5 http://www.btselem.org/english/Jerusalem/Index.asp