Originally posted by the Voice of America.
Voice of America content is produced by the Voice of America,
a United States federal government-sponsored entity, and is in
the public domain.


UN Calls on Israel to Halt Evictions of Palestinians in East Jerusalem

Lisa Schlein

   GENEVA - The United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human
   Rights is calling on Israel to halt forced evictions of Palestinian
   refugee families living in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of east
   Jerusalem, although Israel claims Palestinians are exploiting the
   potential evictions to spur unrest.
   The U.N. agency says that, as the occupying power, Israel would be
   violating international humanitarian law if it carried out the
   threatened eviction of eight refugee families. The agency says it is
   urgent for Israel to meet its obligations, given confrontations
   occurring in Sheikh Jarrah.
   Violent clashes between Palestinians protesting the threatened
   evictions and Israeli police have been escalating for weeks. Many
   people have been wounded, including six Israeli police officers. Two
   Palestinians reportedly were killed Friday.
   The spokesman for the U.N. high commissioner, Rupert Colville, says
   east Jerusalem remains part of the occupied Palestinian territory.
   Israel, the occupying power, he says, cannot confiscate private
   property or impose its own set of laws in occupied territory, including
   East Jerusalem.
   "In practice, the implementation of these laws facilitates the transfer
   by Israel of its population into occupied east Jerusalem. The transfer
   of parts of an occupying power's civilian population into the territory
   that it occupies is prohibited under international humanitarian law and
   may amount to a war crime," Colville said.
   Israeli police stand guard in front of a Palestinian home occupied by
   settlers during a protest ahead of a court verdict that may forcibly
   evict Palestinian families from their homes, in the Sheikh Jarrah
   neighborhood of East Jerusalem, May 5, 2021.

   Israel has not immediately responded to the U.N. agency's criticism of
   its policy and the violence that has ensued. However, an Israeli
   Foreign Affairs Ministry tweet has accused the Palestinians of using
   the threatened evictions to incite violence.
   It warned that the Palestinian Authority and "Palestinian terror groups
   will bear full responsibility for the violence emanating from their
   actions," adding that, "The Israel Police will ensure public order is
   maintained."
   The United States has expressed concern about the heightened tensions
   in the region. U.S. State Department spokeswoman Jalina Porter said it
   was "critical to avoid unilateral steps that would exacerbate tensions
   or take us further away from peace. And that would include evictions,
   settlement activity and home demolitions."
   Colville said those are longstanding issues, which U.N. human rights
   officials have raised with Israel for many years.
   "Unfortunately, it seems to fall on deaf ears. But these are really
   serious matters. As I said, we are talking about a potential war crime
   here. We are talking about a potentially grave breech of the Fourth
   Geneva Convention. These are not little things. These are very major,
   very major legal issues and they are ones that we continue to highlight
   year after year," Colville said.
   U.N. officials are urging Israel to respect protesters' rights of
   freedom of expression and assembly and to exercise maximum restraint in
   the use of force, while ensuring safety and security in east Jerusalem.
   Israeli's Supreme Court is expected to rule Monday on whether to uphold
   the evictions in favor of Jewish settlers.