By Meron Rapoport, Haaretz Correspondent
The Ateret Cohanim association must give up one its major strongholds in East Jerusalem, after a court ordered it to seal up a seven-story building it erected in Kfar Silwan and evict its Jewish residents. This is the first time settlers will be forced to evacuate a building in East Jerusalem since the association began its settlement activities there after the 1967 Six-Day War.
Judge Eliahu Zimra, of the Jerusalem Court of Municipal Affairs, ruled that the eight families living in the building must leave within two months from today, after which all the building's openings must be sealed with concrete blocks. Each defendant was also ordered to pay a fine of NIS 3,500. If the building is not sealed by April 15, the district planning committee will carry out the task and charge the families for the work. The Supreme Court rejected the families' request for an extension of the deadline.
Palestinian residents of Silwan expressed great satisfaction with the ruling, which is likely to deal a hard blow to the settlers' effort to expand their foothold in the eastern part of the city.
The original idea was for Jewish families to live in the area, in which Jews from Yemen had lived until the 1930s. No construction permit was ever issued for the building. The Jewish families moved in, under police guard, in April 2004, after the Palestinian family that had been living there was evicted. The eight Jewish families turned the building into one of the largest concentrations of Jews in East Jerusalem. Each family paid $250 per month to the Committee for the Renewal of Jewish Settlement in Silwan, which is associated with Ateret Cohanim.
After City Council member Yosef Papa Alalu (Meretz) contacted the municipality's legal adviser, the city initiated legal action against the families living in the building. The story of the building was also widely covered in Haaretz. Since the construction violation was discovered after the building was completed, an administrative demolition order could not be issued. The families were charged with using a building without a permit.
Municipal legal adviser Yossi Havilio attempted to force the families to leave and ordered water and electricity supplies to the building be disconnected, but his directives were not carried out. He also asked the Housing Ministry to stop funding its 24-hour guarding of the building, on the grounds that it amounted to facilitating violation of the law, but the ministry has continued to pay for the security detail.
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The Jewish families being shamefully evicted now, associated with Ateret Kohanim, remind me of those Jewish pioneers of the El-Ad ("To the City of David") organization that I was blessed to visit with as soon as they liberated areas of Shiloach years ago, as mentioned within Conflict in Jerusalem. Later I sat and talked with its leader, David Be'eri, on his lawn about the situation and future.
May a proper Jewish government be brought to power that will respect the Jewish Homeland and strengthen it and appreciate those who love it dearly. Meanwhile, may Jews, Israelis and Christian Zionists, encourage such patriotic souls in Shiloach to continue performing the mitzvot of settling the land and launch a "Save the City of David" campaign to show solidarity.
Israel's sworn enemies have no trouble getting a riot on, so why can't we manage to have an overwhelming show of support for those Jews on the frontlines to restore biblical Jerusalem? May the public have massive demonstrations and put pressure on the government to do the right thing and permit the Jews to remain. Let the yeshivas empty their classrooms and take it to the streets. No more Jewish expulsions!
El-Ad Foundation
The El-Ad Foundation is on the forefront of the movement to strengthen the ties of the Jewish people with ancient Jerusalem - the City of David. Right near the Western Wall, El-Ad is settling Jewish families right where the capital of Israel stood in the time of the Bible, developing archeological sites, and connecting visitors to the ancient City of David.
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