Palestinian families on Tuesday rejected an offer that would have delayed their eviction from the east Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah.
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The four families said their decision springs from "our belief in the justice of our cause and our right to our homes and our homeland." They said that rather than submit to an "unjust agreement" they would rely on the "Palestinian street" to raise international awareness of their plight.
The proposal floated by the Supreme Court last month would have made them "protected tenants," blocking any eviction and demolition order for at least the next 15 years, according to Ir Amim, an Israeli rights group that closely follows developments in the city.
The families would have been able to continue arguing their case in Israeli courts. But it would have forced them to at least temporarily attest to the Jewish families' ownership of the properties, which could weaken the families' case going forward, and pay rent to the Israelis.
The four families are among dozens in Jerusalem who face eviction in several cases that have been working their way through the Israeli court system for decades.
The families say the Jordanian government granted them the land on which their homes were later built in exchange for their refugee status after it assumed control of the West Bank and east Jerusalem in 1948. They have been living there ever since.
Israel has portrayed the matter as a private real-estate dispute, but the Palestinians and human rights groups view it as a coordinated attempt to push Palestinian residents out of Jerusalem and change the city's identity. The US has spoken out against the evictions, saying it undermines efforts to eventually revive the long-dormant peace process.
Israel captured east Jerusalem, along with the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, in the 1967 Six-Day War. The Palestinians want all three territories to form their future state and consider east Jerusalem their capital. Jordan supports their claims.
Israel annexed east Jerusalem shortly after the 1967 war and considers the entire city to be its capital, a claim not recognized by most of the international community.
The potential evictions were one of the main drivers of protests that erupted in Jerusalem in April and May. The city, with major holy sites sacred to Jews, Christians, and Muslims, has been the epicenter of several waves of unrest over the years.
The families' decision to reject the offer sends the matter back to the Supreme Court, which could approve the evictions and pave the way for them to be carried out in the coming weeks.
Ir Amim says the Israeli government has various tools at its disposal to delay or halt the evictions, but so far it has shown no indication it plans to do so.
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