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Palestinians Refuse Supreme Court Compromise in Jerusalem Property Case

(JNS) Jonathan S. Tobin - Four Palestinian families, acting under pressure from the Palestinian Authority and Hamas, have refused to accept an extraordinary offer from Israel's Supreme Court which would have protected them from eviction from homes they do not own and for which they have refused to pay rent in the Sheikh Jarrah section of Jerusalem. The dispute has been dragging on in Israeli courts for decades. It only became a cause celebre after PA leader Mahmoud Abbas decided to go back on his promise to allow elections in the West Bank. As a way to divert Palestinian attention, he seized on the Sheikh Jarrah case. Hamas followed suit and one-upped Abbas with a massive rocket barrage in May to demonstrate that they were even more committed to fighting the Jews. The facts of the case are straightforward. The neighborhood - also known as Shimon HaTzadik after the nearby tomb of "Simeon the Just" - was founded in 1890 by Jews who bought the land. Its Jewish residents lived there until they were forced out of their homes by Jordanian forces during the 1948 War of Independence. The Palestinians are claiming "ethnic cleansing," which is ironic because the only reason Arabs are living in these homes is due to the fact that Jews themselves were ethnically cleansed from the neighborhood. The goal of the forces manipulating the Palestinian families is not coexistence or peace, but an endless cycle of violence and war that must end in Israel's destruction. American Jews should not be fooled into thinking support for the squatters will advance the cause of peace.
2021-11-04 00:00:00
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