Ramallah: Israeli colonists, armed with a court order and escorted by hundreds of security and special forces, forced a 15-member Palestinian family out of their home in Jabal Al Mukaber in occupied East Jerusalem claiming the house was their own.
Fakhri Abu Diab, a member of the Silwan Defence Committee, told Gulf News that the actual owner of the house who inherited it from his ancestors has been living there, but the colonists claimed that they had bought the house from owner’s son who passed away a long time ago.
The man told the authorities that neither he nor any of his children had sold the home to colonists but security forces have not given him the chance to explain anything.
He said that the owner of the house and the land is still alive and the colonists had not presented any documents to prove their claim.
Abu Diab said that the Palestinian owners of the houses and lands in Al Farouq neighbourhood do not have official documents to prove ownership of these properties. He stressed that all these houses were built before 1967.
Taking advantage of the situation, the colonists are coming up with fake documents claiming they had bought these properties and forcing the Palestinians out of their homes.
Meanwhile, the Israeli police issued official notices to five Palestinian families in Beit Hanina, north of occupied East Jerusalem, asking them to leave their houses.
