{"id":85968,"date":"2021-05-10T17:05:44","date_gmt":"2021-05-10T15:05:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/?p=85968"},"modified":"2021-05-10T08:13:34","modified_gmt":"2021-05-10T06:13:34","slug":"19-05-62","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/?p=85968","title":{"rendered":"Media Abet Palestinian Squatters in Transforming Real Estate Dispute into International Incident"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>Media Abet Palestinian Squatters in Transforming Real Estate Dispute into International Incident<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/h5>\n

Akiva Van Koningsveld<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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An Israeli appeals court recently upheld<\/a> a decision by a lower court to evict Palestinian squatters living rent-free on Jewish-owned land in the eastern Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah\/Shimon HaTzadik. Although the debate surrounding the property dates back many years, the issue this week exploded into the limelight as Palestinians for several nights on end clashed<\/a> with Israeli police and Jewish residents of the area.<\/span><\/p>\n

Most major media outlets were quick to adopt the Palestinian narrative that the real estate dispute between private parties was somehow linked to alleged attempts by Israel to \u201cJudaize\u201d Jerusalem and simultaneous riots by tens of thousands of Arabs on Temple Mount and near the Old City\u2019s Damascus Gate<\/a>. In reality, though, the situation in Sheikh Jarrah\/Shimon HaTzadik is unrelated and highly complex, as demonstrated by the fact that the case has been working its way through the courts for decades. In fact, several Palestinian tenants of a few buildings in question acknowledged under oath as far back as the 1980s that the property was indeed owned by Jews.<\/span><\/p>\n

Not surprisingly, many outlets have distorted the basic facts of the story, preferring instead to jump on the anti-Israel bandwagon.<\/span><\/p>\n

Consider this paragraph from a report published by The Washington Post<\/em><\/a>:<\/span><\/p>\n

 In recent days, protests have grown over Israel\u2019s threatened eviction in Sheikh Jarrah\/Shimon HaTzadik of dozens of Palestinians embroiled in a long legal battle with Israeli settlers trying to acquire property in the neighborhood.\u201d [emphasis added]<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This assertion is simply false. Israelis are not trying to acquire property in Sheikh Jarrah, but want to regain control over what they believe legally belongs to them. In 1875, Rabbi Avraham Ashkenazi and Rabbi Meir Auerbach acquired the land in question from Arab sellers. Shortly before Israel\u2019s War of Independence, in 1946, two Jewish non-governmental organizations moved to register the deed with authorities in what was then British Mandatory Palestine.<\/span><\/p>\n

Few media mentioned that Sheikh Jarrah is also known as Shimon HaTzadik, named after the Jewish High Priest during the Second Temple period, whose tomb is located in the neighborhood. After the war in 1948, Shimon HaTzadik came under the control of Jordan, which expelled the local Jewish population and gave the resulting vacant houses to Jordanian citizens, who paid rent to the Jordanian Custodian.<\/span><\/p>\n

In the 1970s, after Jerusalem was unified under Israeli sovereignty, Va\u2019ad Eidat HaSfaradim<\/em> and Va\u2019ad HaKlali L\u2019Knesset Yisrael <\/em>reclaimed their ownership with the Israeli Custodian of Absentee Property. In 1982, the Palestinian residents of the property \u2013 including the parents and grandparents of some of the current occupants \u2013 signed an agreement confirming that the Israeli NGOs were the rightful owners.<\/span><\/p>\n

In the early 2000s, these two Israeli non-profits sold the land to the Nahalat Shimon <\/em>organization. The Palestinians occupying the dwelling were nevertheless allowed to continue living there and enjoyed \u201cProtected Residents\u201d status. However, by law, the tenants were required to pay rent to Nahalat Shimon. It was only after the Palestinian residents refused to do so \u2014 and instead illegally expanded the property and rented out spaces to third parties \u2014 that Nahalat Shimon initiated eviction proceedings.<\/span><\/p>\n

This past February, the Jerusalem District Court upheld<\/a> an October 2020 decision by the Jerusalem Magistrate Court, which ruled in favor of Nahalat Shimon. According to the verdict, the residents failed to back up their claim that the former Jordanian authorities had gifted them the property. \u201cAll of the witnesses were born after [the] 1967 [Six Day War, in which Israel acquired the area] or were very young at the time and testified that they heard about the [Jordanian] promise from an older relative,\u201d the lower court had noted. No tangible evidence of ownership was presented.<\/span><\/p>\n

However, this crucial context has been almost entirely missing from the news cycle. When Reuters<\/em><\/a> writes that \u201cJewish settlers backed by an Israeli court have taken over some homes\u201d in Sheikh Jarrah\/Shimon HaTzadik, or Associated Press<\/em><\/a> reports that \u201cdozens of Palestinians are fighting attempts by Israeli settlers to evict them from their homes,\u201d without even mentioning the facts surrounding the case, an informed discussion on the matter becomes impossible.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Supreme Court, Israel\u2019s final court of appeals, was supposed to hear the case on Monday, but delayed the session<\/a> by a month at the request of Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit. According to local media<\/a>, Israels security services feared that the trial could further fuel tensions in the holy city. In the meantime, the Palestinian squatters will be allowed to remain on the property.<\/span><\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the Human Rights Office of the United Nations on Saturday went as far as saying<\/a> that the possible eviction, rooted in basic property law, would \u201ccontribute to a coercive environment and lead to a risk of forcible transfer.\u201d The US State Department expressed<\/a> \u201cdeep concern\u201d about the situation in Sheikh Jarrah\/Shimon HaTzadik, noting that many of the tenants have \u201clived in their homes for generations.\u201d Concurrently, Senators Elizabeth Warren<\/a> (D-MA) and Bernie Sanders<\/a> (D-VT) posted angry statements to Twitter, with the former suggesting that the prospective evictions were \u201cabhorrent.\u201d For her part, Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez<\/a> (D-NY) falsely claimed that \u201cIsraeli forces are forcing families from their homes.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

By once again wreaking havoc<\/a> in the streets of Jerusalem, Palestinians have seemingly successfully turned a minuscule \u2014 and not uncommon \u2014 real estate disagreement into a major international incident. But none of this would have been possible without the laziness, if not complicity, of mainstream media outlets. Instead of insisting that their journalists do a modicum of due diligence, apparently they prefer to smear Israel, in general, and \u201csettlers,\u201d specifically, who do not believe that four Palestinian families have the right to live on lands that Israeli courts have to date determined belong to these Jews.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Akiva Van Koningsveld<\/strong> – Originally from The Hague, Akiva Van Koningsveld left The Netherlands for Israel in the fall of 2020. Before joining the HonestReporting team, he worked as a policy officer at the Center for Information and Documentation Israel, a Dutch organization dedicated to combating antisemitism and spreading awareness of the Arab-Israel conflict. Akiva studied journalism at the University of Applied Sciences Utrecht. In 2020, he graduated from Utrecht University with a law degree, focusing on the intersection of human rights and civil liability.
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\"\"<\/a>Media Miss Real Story As Palestinians Riot on Temple Mount<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/h5>\n

Emanuel Miller<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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On Friday, thousands of Muslim worshippers chanted violent slogans while rioting on the Temple Mount, Judaism\u2019s holiest site, also location of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, Islam\u2019s third holiest place. Over 200 Palestinians and 17 Israeli police officers were wounded in resulting clashes.<\/span><\/p>\n

But that wasn\u2019t how the media reported the story.<\/span><\/p>\n

To read any of the reports by The New York Times<\/a><\/strong><\/span>, BBC<\/a><\/strong><\/span>, The Guardian<\/strong><\/span><\/a>, Washington Post<\/a><\/strong><\/span>, Reuters<\/a><\/strong><\/span> or Associated Press<\/a><\/strong><\/span>, one could be forgiven for thinking that Palestinian worshippers were severely mistreated by heavy-handed Israeli security forces.<\/span><\/p>\n

Such a representation is not only a distortion of the facts, but also blurs the bigger picture. <\/span><\/p>\n

Omitted from Reports: Palestinian Battle Cries<\/strong><\/h4>\n

\u201cYa Qassam, Ya Habib\/Bomb, bomb, Tel Aviv.\u201d<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Those were the words on the lips of not hundreds, but thousands, of Palestinians, who had gathered at the Temple Mount to mark the last Friday of the month of Ramadan.<\/span><\/p>\n

These weren\u2019t the only violent words heard: the familiar old refrain, \u201cWith our soul, with our blood, we\u2019ll redeem you, Al Aqsa\u201d was also repeatedly chanted.<\/span><\/p>\n

Perhaps the most egregious example came in a segment by NPR<\/a>, in which chants were mentioned  \u2014 but only those of a small group of Jewish extremists over the last few weeks (2:40 in audio clip). The chants in Arabic sung by thousands, of Muslim worshippers during the clashes this Friday night, however, weren\u2019t deemed worthy of inclusion.<\/span><\/p>\n

While this went almost entirely unreported by foreign media, Reuters should be credited for being one of the few news organizations that made mention of the incitement to violence.<\/span><\/p>\n

Meanwhile, self-proclaimed \u201cpro-peace\u201d IfNotNow organization described the hate speech as \u201cinspiring\u2026 Palestinian resistance.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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Incredible, inspiring images of Palestinian resistance coming out of Jerusalem tonight.<\/strong><\/p>\n

American Jews are with you \"✊\" https:\/\/t.co\/TCPYR0McE2<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2014 IfNotNow\"🔥\" (@IfNotNowOrg) <\/strong>May 8, 2021<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Simplistic \u2018Sheikh Jarrah Land Conflict\u2019 Framing<\/strong><\/h4>\n

In recent days, a legal debate over the fate of a few properties in the Shimon HaTzaddik\/Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in eastern Jerusalem has made international headlines. While it is clear that this issue has been used as a rallying call by rioters in Jerusalem, media reports have oversimplified the narrative to the point of effectively ignoring Palestinian intolerance.<\/span><\/p>\n

An article by the BBC<\/a> p<\/strong><\/span>ublished after the Friday night rioting serves as a perfect case in point. It opened by documenting the numbers of injured and noting the weapons used by each side, thereby creating the impression of \u2018courageous\u2019 Palestinians underdogs standing up to brutal Israeli security personnel:<\/span><\/p>\n

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At least 163 Palestinians and six Israeli police officers have been hurt in clashes in Jerusalem, Palestinian medics and Israeli police say. Most were injured at the Al-Aqsa mosque, where Israeli police fired rubber bullets and stun grenades as Palestinians threw stones and bottles.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The next paragraph frames the issue as arising on the backdrop of another:<\/span><\/p>\n

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Tensions have been rising over the potential eviction of Palestinians from land claimed by Jewish settlers.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

That\u2019s all. Not a word about the recent trend of unprovoked attacks by Palestinians<\/a> <\/strong><\/span>on Jewish Israelis; or the non-stop incitement by Palestinian politicians<\/strong><\/span><\/a>, religious leaders and media; or that the frequency of Palestinian terrorism almost always increases during Ramadan.<\/span><\/p>\n

Downplayed: Palestinian Violence<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Another seemingly inconvenient fact ignored by the media is that Palestinian rioters brought large rocks to the Temple Mount and stashed them inside Al Aqsa Mosque. Videos of the clashes also show Palestinians using fireworks as weapons, forcing Israeli border police to use shields to protect themselves. It also seems that lasers were used to distract and disorient the officers. <\/span><\/p>\n

Video Player<\/span><\/p>\n

This video footage provided by the Israeli Police is invaluable, as it helps viewers properly understanding what is captured in the lead image used by the Washington Post<\/a><\/strong><\/span>. The Post\u2019s<\/em> caption of the photo reads, \u201cPalestinians react as Israeli police fire stun grenades during clashes at the compound that houses the al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem\u2019s Old City.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

However, the picture very clearly shows fireworks exploding in mid-air, most likely those used by Palestinians \u2014 with a view to harming Israeli security forces \u2014 that prompted a response.<\/span><\/p>\n

And whereas stun grenades were at times indeed used by security forces as a dispersal method, this is what they actually look like when they explod<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

It seems clear, then, that the Post<\/em>\u2018s caption is inaccurate.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Unreported: Palestinian Power Struggle<\/strong><\/h4>\n

For perhaps the first time ever, hundreds of Hamas flags were this weekend flown on the Temple Mount. The terrorist organization that rules the Gaza Strip is dedicated to Israel\u2019s destruction and is evidently making inroads in Jerusalem.<\/span><\/p>\n