U.S. pressuring Israel not to evict Arabs in East Jerusalem neighborhood

[cali]

By Akiva Eldar


The U.S. government and other foreign governments, including Turkey and a number of European countries, have asked Israel over the past few days to prevent the eviction of Palestinian families who have been living for over 50 years near the tomb of Simon the Just in East Jerusalem's Sheikh Jarra neighborhood. Jewish settlers have moved into the compound.

During the visit of U.S. presidential envoy George Mitchell to Israel over the weekend, a U.S. consulate representative came to the area to speak to the families. The families' attorney, Saleh Abu-Hussein, said Saturday he was told that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is closely following the matter.

About six months ago, following an eviction order against one of the families, the United States lodged an official protest, asking that the eviction be stayed against that family and the others. Despite the involvement of Palestinian authority chairman Mahmoud Abbas, the family was evicted.


The Foreign Ministry said that the decision to evict the family was made in a civil judicial procedure, and the government did not have the authority to interfere.

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