Israeli court welcomes pre-1948 land claims, from Jewish Israelis only

By Jesse Bacon

One of the Palestinian families that could be evicted from their homes as a result of a September 26 court ruling. Photo by: Michal Fattal

It has been pointed out repeatedly, but now it’s official, the Israeli Supreme Court will accept your pre-1948 claim, if you are Jewish that is. In one of those cases that is a testament to presumably intelligent people’s ability to ignore the larger implications of their actions, the court has been ruling that Jews who left East Jerusalem during the founding of the state of Israel/ Palestinian Nakba/ Catastrophe have a right of return. I hope there are Palestinian refugees filing similar court cases, as many more of them were dispossessed during that time. I would love to hear an Israeli court explain why the Jewish Israelis claims are more valid.

Here is the recent Ha’aretz coverage.

Sheikh Jarrah has been a bone of contention between Jewish groups – who call the neighborhood Shimon Hatzadik after the ancient rabbi they believe is buried there – and Palestinians living there. Tensions have risen over the last year as the court has allowed Jewish groups to reclaim homes they said they were forced to leave after 1948, thereby allowing them to evict Palestinian families in favor of Jewish ones.

Near the end of the dry article, we get a quote that

The legal significance of the ruling is that the status of the Palestinians living in the eastern portion of the neighborhood is now the same as that of those living in the western side – subletting Jewish owned property.

I would say that  this seems to be view of the Israeli government towards Palestinians everywhere, as perpetual subletters. It’s just a questions of when the eviction will come, and whether it will be vigilante settlers or a judge in a democracy that claims to have the rule of law.  As the folk song my dad taught me went, “some rob you with a sixgun, some use a fountain pen.”