The program “To The Story of the Rest” (5/31/2021) presented with maps and satellite images the location of Sheikh Jarrah and its importance, and worked on analyzing data and documents that refute the Israeli narrative about its ownership of homes in the neighborhood.
And the attempt to take over the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood is not just a real estate theft, but part of a plan that extends to the town of Silwan, adjacent to Al-Aqsa, and the goal is to Judaize the city of Jerusalem.
The episode reviewed how the neighborhood was presented in the Palestinians’ negotiations with the occupation, starting from Camp David to Annapolis, up to the vision of former US President Donald Trump.
It also tried to investigate the legal and political dimensions of the conditions of the people of the neighborhood and what is expected from the Israeli judiciary regarding them, and discussed their options and the possibility of resorting to the international judiciary to confront their displacement, which was considered legal as amounting to a war crime.
From a legal point of view, a specialist in Jerusalem affairs, Khaled al-Zabarqa, said that the judicial system represents the Israeli occupation, and therefore the case is not before a neutral body that would end the conflict, but rather is part of the occupation system that runs the city of Jerusalem.
He pointed out that the real estate registry in the city of Jerusalem is in the hands of the occupation, which has been proven by evidence that it is tampering with this registry and forging and changing documents and numbers of land plots.
In turn, Professor of Islamic History and Studies of Jerusalem, who is expelled from Jerusalem, Abdullah Maarouf, said that the issue of Sheikh Jarrah is politicized and illegal, considering that the Israeli judiciary is not an independent judiciary and it is not a state of institutions, but even the law and the Israeli Supreme Court are subject to political calculations.
He stressed that this issue must be dealt with as a purely political issue, considering that the mere presentation of Sheikh Jarrah’s issue in negotiations means that this place is not considered entirely Jewish property.
The role of the media
For her part, Mona Al-Kurd, an activist and journalist described as “the icon of the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood,” said that the colonist who stole her house provoked her by his words, and she filmed a video of him admitting that he had seized this house, and that if he did not steal it, others would steal it, considering that the video moved The consciences of the Arab street are because the landlord fights for her home, while the thief confesses to his crime.
She explained that the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood is currently completely closed, and it is a legally imposed siege in order to muzzle them, because the people of the neighborhood are struggling with the Israeli occupation with all its simple means.
As for the role of the Fourth Authority in the case, Al-Jazeera correspondent Najwan Samri said that the simple details in the lives of the Palestinian people are tightening her, considering that the legal battle waged by the people of the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood is unfair, and that is why she was keen to convey the reality of the families closely and tell their human stories.
She added that the recent war on Gaza made her feel the extent of injustice these families feel, as they are fighting battles they are forced to, and they have no choice but to live in the anxiety of stealing their homes and land