Palestine Today 041409

In the news today, Israeli police orders Palestinians families to leave their homes in Jerusalem, while the military kidnaps 23 civilians from across the west Bank, these stories and more, coming up, stay tuned.

The News Cast

The Israeli police today ordered two Palestinian families to leave their homes located in Shikh Jarah neighborhood near Jerusalem's old city. The two homes are owned by the Al Ghawi and Hannon families. Shikh Jarah is a predominantly Palestinian neighborhood. The Palestinians living there are originally refugees of the 1948 war. During the 1950s the Jordanian government gave the Palestinian refugees rights over this land.

Israeli settlers claim Shikh Jarah land used to be owned by Jews before the creation of Israel. In late 70s settlers went to the Israeli high court which ruled in their favour. Palestinian families living there managed to get documents from the Ottoman Archives that showed that the land was previously owned by Palestinians; however the Israeli courts refused to recognize the validity of these documents.

Both the Al Ghawi and Hannon families went to court last week to appeal the Israeli government's decision but were unsuccessful. Ziyad Hammoury, the director of the Jerusalem center for social and economical rights, told IMEMC that the courts ruling is illegal.



Staying in Jerusalem, Israeli police released the body of a Palestinian youth to his family on Tuesday, allowing only immediate family to take part in his funeral.

Azmi Ewisat, 20, was killed last Tuesday by Israeli border police in east Jerusalem. Witnesses say Ewisat was driving his car near a police checkpoint in the Palestinian dominated Surbaher neighborhood when officers opened fire and killed him. Israeli police sources said the two men were trying to run down police with the car causing the officers to open fire. Ewisat family said the police delivered his body at 1:00am today, instructing the family to bury him without the participation of friends and other extended family members.

The father of Ewisat demanded earlier this week an independent investigation regarding his son's death. The father said that his son was not trying to kill Israeli police officers and that they just shot him because he is Palestinian. Israeli police have not released the outcome of their investigation.

In other news a total of 23 Palestinian civilians were kidnapped by the Israeli military following invasions which targeted a number of West Bank communities on Tuesday morning. Local sources said that the kidnappings took place in the northern West Bank cities of Jenin and Nablus and the southern city of Hebron.


Conclusion

Thank you for joining us from occupied Bethlehem. You have been listening to Palestine Today from the International Middle East Media Center, www.imemc.org. This report has been brought to you by Dina Awwad and Ghassan Bannoura.