Batn al-Hawa, a majority Palestinian neighborhood, lays at the center of East Jerusalem. Yet it has become the focal point of an all-out war on their land rights and changing demographics. This community is located just south of the walls of the Old City. Generations of families have called this jewel home. Almost 175 of these residents, among them Zohair Rajabi and his family, now find themselves under threat of immediate displacement. Now their future lies in the balance due to a new slate of legal actions launched by right-wing Israeli organizations.
Zohair Rajabi, a lifelong resident of Batn al-Hawa, has found himself on the frontlines of this fight. His family has lived in a four-storey house that was built on land that his grandfather bought in 1965. Rajabi and nearly 34 other families have strong roots in this historical neighborhood. Now, under threat of eviction, they work to consolidate their control as Jewish settler organizations such as Ateret Cohanim accomplish their aims.
Ateret Cohanim has now successfully settled almost 40 Jewish families into Batn al-Hawa. They’re doing it under cover of a 1970 law, whereby Jewish people can reclaim property they owned prior to the ‘67 War in East Jerusalem. Attorneys for the philanthropic trust have previously made a powerful call in Israeli courts. They claim that the trust, established under Ottoman rule to construct homes for Yemen’s poor Jewish population, takes precedence over the homes’ current Palestinian occupants’ rights to the properties.
The war is a big factor. In the absence of war, you would see an eviction once a decade. Rather, it’s the result of five evictions in a mere 15-month span. Rajabi explained, particularly focusing on how recent conflicts have exacerbated eviction efforts. He expressed his despair over the situation, stating, “Yes I have lost. I have been defeated. I am not only waiting for my home to be taken but for every home here to be taken.”
With tensions escalating, residents like Rajabi are left grappling with uncertainty about their future. “We know what the decision will be … but we are going to fight anyway,” he added. His family, like many other families who’ve been evicted, are left scrambling to find another place to stay. Rajabi doesn’t know exactly where they will land.
Dahreen, another Batn al-Hawa resident, put it even more starkly, expressing her dread of being separated from her family amid the turmoil. Every stone here is a memory with my husband. I am very worried that we will be split up as a family and I will be away from my friends. I’m sure as hell taking my cat with me, come what may.
The bloody war now raging in Gaza only heightens that challenge. No surprise then that many residents believe it exacerbates the animosity and sense of urgency among Israeli officials, encouraging them to accelerate evictions. At the same time, Rajabi noted, the war has dramatically changed the terrain of legal struggles. This change recently made it easier for organizations like Ateret Cohanim to lobby for displacement.
Ateret Cohanim’s chief spokesperson, Daniel Luria, waved away resident fears and justified the organization’s predations. He cited historical precedent going back to the 1930s when Jews were famously kicked out of these homes. “I sympathise but … they are illegal squatters in properties from which Jews were driven out in the 1930s,” he remarked.
These evictions affect the communities beyond just families being evicted. They would change the demographics in Batn al-Hawa and stoke an even greater pattern of settlement growth in East Jerusalem. Ir Amim, a Jerusalem-based NGO actively monitoring the situation, warns that if these evictions proceed as planned, they will not only displace residents but reshape the community’s identity.