For over 73 years, Israeli authorities have been carrying out a series of house demolitions in occupied Palestinian lands, thus displacing thousands of people.
A few months ago, more than 550 Palestinians from the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood were standing in front of Israeli courts, battling for their homes and livelihoods.
Meanwhile, the Israeli Supreme court delayed decisions concerning the expulsion of Palestinian families in East Jerusalem. The court suggested considering the families as protected tenants under Israeli ownership, but the proposal was rejected.
The El-Kurd family is one of these families. Brother and sister Mohammed and Muna El-Kurd have been actively shedding light on the situation through social media, reaching audiences from all around the world. Mohammed considers that accepting the Israeli court’s deal equated to accepting “living at the mercy of the settlers.”
“Our neighborhood has been under blockade for three months, maintained by Israeli forces, with continuing restrictions intended to suffocate the lives of hundreds of Palestinians who live here,” wrote Mohammed El-Kurd in his opinion article for The Guardian.
“I have no faith in the Israeli judicial system,” added El-Kurd. “It is a part of the settler-colonial state, built by settlers for settlers.”
With that presented, the situation in Sheikh Jarrah is not a new occurrence, but rather one of Israel’s decade-long crimes and prevalent ethnic cleansing. In 1948, more than 750,000 Palestinians were expelled from their homes. This resulted in around 7.2 million Palestinian refugees, most of whom are now living in dire conditions in Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan, awaiting their right to return home.
Since the beginning of 2021, around 50% of house annihilations in East Jerusalem were done by Palestinian house owners who received demolition orders from the Jerusalem Municipality, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
Consequently, the Abulhawa family were forced to demolish their own house in the Al-Tour neighborhood in Jerusalem following an order from the Israeli municipality.
“We will remain steadfast like our ancestors who lived and died in this town,” said Mohammad Abulhawa, the house’s owner. “And we will build for our children.”
According to Palestinian activist Adnan Barq from Jerusalem, the situation in Sheikh Jarrah has exposed the reality of Israeli occupation. As Barq made his way to Sheikh Jarrah to protest and support the population, he and the rest of the protesters were not allowed into the neighborhood.
“Witnessing the ethnic separation and racism by the Israeli army in its darkest forms made me feel more personally connected,” said Barq. “I spend more time intensifying my efforts towards the Palestinian cause and our liberation.”
According to a report by ReliefWeb, Palestinian families from the West Bank and East Jerusalem face severe psychological harm due to the terror of having their homes demolished. Of the 217 families interviewed, around 76% felt powerless, 75% felt shame, and 35% had a limited emotional connection to their children.
“We keep moving around to find somewhere to love,” said Faris, a 14-year-old child whose family was among those evicted by Israeli authorities. “The instability is driving me crazy. I feel that wherever I go, they will come for me and destroy my life.”