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Sheikh Jarrah Controversy Exemplifies the Arab-Israeli Conflict
(Los Angeles Jewish Journal) Micha Danzig - Sheik Jarrah is an Arab neighborhood of Jerusalem established in 1865. Before 1949, there was a separate Jewish neighborhood within it in an area known for centuries by the name "Shimon HaTzadik" (Simon the Righteous), after the famous rabbinical sage whose tomb is located there. Because of the tomb and its significance to the Jewish people, the Sephardic Community Committee and the Ashkenazi Assembly of Israel purchased the tomb and its surrounding land (about 4.5 acres) in 1875. In 1949, TransJordan's British-created and British-led Arab Legion captured the Shimon HaTzadik neighborhood and every last Jew was either killed or ethnically cleansed, including those whose families had lived in the region for centuries. After the Six-Day War in 1967, Israel allowed Jews whose families had been forced out of their homes by the Jordanians to regain control of their family homes if they could provide proof of ownership. The homes under discussion today were owned by Jewish families that had purchased those homes, and had deeds registered first with the Ottoman Empire and then with the British authorities. The court determined that the people currently living in these homes had been illegally squatting for decades without paying rent or holding proof of ownership.