A concise summary of the situation currently happening in Israel
Jews have owned the land in question since 1875
In 1948 when Jordan captured the Old City of Jerusalem it confiscated the property & rented it to 28 Palestinian families.
In 1967 when Israel re-captured the Old City of Jerusalem it passed a law allowing Jewish families to reclaim property as long as they could prove ownership.
The Palestinian families still remained living there.
In 1973 the original ownership of the properties was returned to their Jewish owners.
In 1982 the Jewish owners sued to have the Palestinian families removed from the property, claiming they were squatters. , .
In 1993, the owners began - .
Following the judgement of the Jerusalem District Court in February 2021, upholding an earlier court decision that, - . the tenants appealed to the Supreme Court, with the courts final verdict expected within the next 30 days
This is a dispute over .
Sheikh Jarrah is a predominantly, though not exclusively, small Arab neighbourhood of Jerusalem, that is about 2 – 3 kilometres from the Old City
Jews refer to the area as ‘Shimon Hatzadik’, in which the tomb of ‘Simeon the Just’, a revered 3rd century BCE Jewish High Priest, is buried. The neighbourhood is often visited by Jewish pilgrims.
Palestinians claim the area derives its name from Sheikh Jarrah, a physician to Saladin, an Islamic military leader, who reportedly fought the Crusaders in the 12th century. His body is believed to be buried there.
The pro-Palestinian community is claiming that Israel is unjustly evicting four Palestinian families from their homes in the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood and that this exemplifies accusations against Israel in the context of the broader conflict with the Palestinians.
In response, the owners of the property (a private Israeli NGO, Nahalat Shimon), claim they have the legal title to the property in question and that, in the absence of rent being paid by the tenants, the tenants ought to be evicted, for breaching the law.
The land in question was purchased by the local Jewish communities from their Arab owners in 1875 and the property was registered in the Ottoman land registry as a trust under the name of Rabbis Avraham Ashkenazi and Meir Auerbach. A small Jewish community lived there peacefully in co-existence with the local Arab community until 1948, when the War of Independence broke out.
The Jewish owners had tried to register ownership of the property with the authorities of the British Mandate in 1946.
When the War of Independence broke out in 1948, the Old City of Jerusalem and its surrounding area – including Sheikh Jarrah – was captured by Transjordan (now Jordan) and the Jewish families were forcibly evicted. Custodianship of the property was transferred to the Jordanian Custodian of Enemy Properties. In 1956, the Jordanian government leased the property to 28 Palestinian families, while maintaining ownership of the property.
After the Six Day War in 1967, when Israel regained control of Jerusalem, it passed a law1 allowing Jews whose families were evicted by Jordanian or British authorities in the city prior to 1967, to reclaim their property, provided they could demonstrate proof of ownership and the existing residents were unable to provide such proof of purchase or legal transfer of title.
In 1973, ownership of the property was registered by Sephardic Community Committee and the Knesset Israel Committee with Israeli authorities pursuant to the above law.
In 1982, the Jewish owners (Sephardic Community Committee and the Knesset Israel Committee) sued the Palestinian families residing in Sheikh Jarrah and demanded their eviction on the basis that they were squatters on the property. The Magistrate Court determined that the Palestinian families could not demonstrate their ownership of the property, but that they enjoyed Protected Tenant Status. As protected tenants, they would be able to continue living on the property as long as they paid rent and maintained the property2. This arrangement was agreed upon mutually in agreement signed by the parties, in which the tenants recognized the trusts' ownership in exchange for protected tenant status.
Beginning in 1993, the trusts began proceedings against the residents based on their non-payment of rent and of illegal changes to the property. The residents never paid rent and carried out illegal construction on the property. The court previously ordered the residents to pay the outstanding rent and to immediately evacuate the illegally constructed additions.
Following the judgement of the Jerusalem District Court in February 2021, upholding an earlier court decision that, in the absence of payment of rent, the Palestinian residents must vacate the premises, the tenants appealed to the Supreme Court, with the courts final verdict expected within the next 30 days.
Source:
https://www.ilfngo.org/sheikhjarrahalegalbackground