Minister of Jerusalem Affairs Fadi al-Hidmi today called for urgent international intervention to stop the displacement of Palestinians from their homes in the occupied Jerusalem neighborhoods of Sheikh Jarrah and Silwan.  

“The international community is required to intervene immediately and urgently to put pressure on the Israeli government to stop the displacement ]of Palestinians from their homes[ in the occupied city, in light of the Israeli governmental and judicial institutions' insistence on flouting international legitimacy decisions,” he said.

Al-Hidmi indicated that driving Palestinians out of their homes in the city is purely politically motivated, and is aimed at implementing colonial settlement plans.

“What is taking place is a systematic programmed process of replacing the Palestinians expelled from their land and property with foreign settlers,” he added.

Al-Hidmi pointed that the Israeli government and settler groups exploit the Israeli judiciary as a tool to pass settlement plans designed to advance the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians by expelling them and replacing them with settlers.

Commenting on the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood, he noted that residents have been facing unfair lawsuits filed by settler groups since 1974 demanding them to evacuate in favor of settler groups wishing to establish colonial-settler units on the rubble of these homes.

Using the pretext of illegal building, Israel demolishes houses on a regular basis to restrict Palestinian expansion in occupied Jerusalem.

At the same time, the municipality and government build tens of thousands of housing units in illegal settlements in East Jerusalem for Jews with a goal to offset the demographic balance in favor of the Jewish settlers in the occupied city.

Although Palestinians in East Jerusalem, a part of the internationally recognized Palestinian territory that has been subject to Israeli military occupation since 1967, they are denied their citizenship rights and are instead classified only as "residents" whose permits can be revoked if they move away from the city for more than a few years.

They are also discriminated against in all aspects of life including housing, employment and services, and are unable to access services in the West Bank due to the construction of Israel's separation wall.