The Old City and the adjacent ring of Palestinian neighborhoods—known as the Old City Basin—is the most religiously and politically sensitive part of Jerusalem owing to the concentration of historical assets and holy sites within its confines – most notably, the Temple Mount/Haram al-Sharif. The population density of the Old City and its environs limits the Israeli government’s ability to advance large residential settlements as a means of increasing its territorial hold over the area and altering its demographic character. After more than 57 years of Israeli control over East Jerusalem, nearly 100,000 Palestinians still live in the Old City Basin, alongside some 6,000 Israelis, 3,000 of whom live in the Old City's Jewish Quarter and the rest in small settler enclaves inside Palestinian neighborhoods in and around the Old City. In grappling with this demographic reality and the symbolic and political value of the space, evictions of Palestinian families and settler takeovers of their homes have increasingly been used as a strategy to cement Israeli hegemony over the area. These measures are reinforced by a constellation of tourist and archeological sites operated by settler groups, which together forge a ring of Israeli control around the Old City Basin with the aim of thwarting any future agreed political resolution on Jerusalem.
Given their strategic location as gateways to the Old City and the number of historical and religious assets within their bounds--...read more
The Old City and the adjacent ring of Palestinian neighborhoods—known as the Old City Basin—is the most religiously and politically sensitive part of Jerusalem owing to the concentration of historical assets and holy sites within its confines – most notably, the Temple Mount/Haram al-Sharif. The population density of the Old City and its environs limits the Israeli government’s ability to advance large residential settlements as a means of increasing its territorial hold over the area and altering its demographic character. After more than 57 years of Israeli control over East Jerusalem, nearly 100,000 Palestinians still live in the Old City Basin, alongside some 6,000 Israelis, 3,000 of whom live in the Old City's Jewish Quarter and the rest in small settler enclaves inside Palestinian neighborhoods in and around the Old City. In grappling with this demographic reality and the symbolic and political value of the space, evictions of Palestinian families and settler takeovers of their homes have increasingly been used as a strategy to cement Israeli hegemony over the area. These measures are reinforced by a constellation of tourist and archeological sites operated by settler groups, which together forge a ring of Israeli control around the Old City Basin with the aim of thwarting any future agreed political resolution on Jerusalem.
Given their strategic location as gateways to the Old City and the number of historical and religious assets within their bounds--Sheikh Jarrah to the north of the Old City and Silwan to the south--are two Palestinian neighborhoods under greatest pressure from the state and settler groups. Over 150 families, numbering more than 1000 individuals, in these two areas alone are under threat of displacement as a result of eviction claims filed by settler organizations.
This document provides an overview of evictions in both of these neighborhoods as well as an update on the most recent and ongoing eviction cases in each.
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