Court Orders Sealing of Settler House, Jerusalem Mayor Promises Home Demolitions

Israel’s State Prosecutor Moshe Lador ordered the sealing off of an illegal house built by Jewish settlers in an Arab neighborhood of East Jerusalem.

“In a letter sent to Barkat Sunday, Moshe Lador praised Barkat for saying that he would implement the long-standing court order to evacuate and seal off  Beit Yonatan, a seven-story building in Silwan built without a permit five years ago by the right-wing group Ateret Cohanim.”

Great news! Although I have trouble imagining another situation where a mayor would get praise for simply obeying a longstanding court order. But not so fast:

“Barkat said last week that he would enforce an order to seal off the home in the Arab neighborhood, but said he also would demolish up to 200 illegally built Palestinian structures in the area.”

So in exchange for sealing off one seven story structure, hundreds of Palestinians are going to be made homeless in their own city, which refuses to allow them building permits.