Sheikh Jarrah: Palestinian-Israeli solidarity in action
13 September 2011, Humanity House The Hague. 14 September 2011, CREA Amsterdam
With Halleli Pinson, activist in The Sheikh Jarrah Solidarity MovementThe Sheikh Jarrah Solidarity Movement began in 2009 as a local struggle for the rights of Palestinian residents to their homes in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of East Jerusalem. Between August and November of that year four Palestinian families were evicted from their homes and 24 families were living under threat of eviction. The purpose of the forced evictions was to make room for the establishment of a new Jewish settlement in the heart of the Palestinian neighborhood. The legal ground for the forced evictions was a claim of Jewish ownership rights dating back to pre-1948 period. The Palestinians families that were evicted were former refugees who fled their own houses during the 1948 war and who were not allowed, by the Israeli legal system, to regain ownership over their former properties in Israel.
The Sheikh Jarrah Solidarity Movement was the first in Israel to publically support the intended Palestinian request to the U.N. for recognition of a independent Palestinian state. As a direct result of that, more than 3,000 Israelis and Palestinians marched on July 15th 2011 for Palestinian independence in an unprecedented event organized by the Sheikh Jarrah Solidarity Movement and the popular committees of East Jerusalem. The protesters held signs quoting Nelson Mandela’s saying “only free men can negotiate”.