Israeli Media: Jordan's Intervention in Sheikh Jarrah is Unnecessary
Israeli news websites reported that the recent Israeli-Jordanian tensions had not receded yet. According to high-level political sources in Jerusalem, Israel made a gesture of goodwill towards Jordan to reduce tensions.
News1 reported that Benjamin Netanyahu approved Jordan's request for an additional 8 million cubic meters of water from Israel, beyond the water quota that Israel offers to Jordan under the 1994 Wadi Arava peace agreement. Israel also agreed to provide Jordan with medical equipment to help it fight more effectively.
Surprising Visit
According to The Hebrew website, despite the Israeli gesture, Jordan continues to lead a line against Israel that, according to senior officials in Jerusalem, is.
According to the peace agreement between the two countries, Jordan is the guardian of the holy places in Jerusalem, and beyond that, it has no status in Jerusalem. However, it is currently intervening in the legal dispute in 2009 to evacuate Palestinian families from homes in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood.
According to PA sources reported by the news website, the Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi arrived on April 21 by helicopter on a surprise visit to Ramallah. He was carrying documents related to the ownership of housing units in the "Sheikh Jarrah" neighborhood.
Safadi met Mahmoud Abbas and handed him a letter from King Abdullah emphasizing the coordination between the two sides on Jerusalem and expressing support for holding elections to the Palestinian parliament.
The Jordanian Foreign Ministry has officially stated that Jordan has provided the Palestinian embassy in Amman with historical documents and correspondence about the ownership of the residential units in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood that Israel claims is trying to take overhand them over to settlers. The statement said that for years, long and precise work had been done in the Jordanian archives of the Jordanian Ministry of Housing to locate documents approving leases for some Sheikh Jarrah residents in 1956.
The Israeli orientalist Yoni Ben Menachem indicated that the Jordanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs officially announced it provided the Palestinian Embassy in Amman with historical documents and correspondence about the ownership of housing units in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood. Israel, however, is trying to hand over the housing units to "settlers" through the court. Those decisions "are not based" on the existence of official documents. "
He continued, "Over the years, long and meticulous work was done in the Jordanian archive of the Ministry of Housing to determine the approval documents for lease contracts for some residents of Sheikh Jarrah in 1956."
Jordanian Foreign Ministry spokesman Dafallah Alfaiz said that in 2019 and the current year, the PA provided the PA with certified copies of all the documents found and a copy between the Jordanian Ministry of Housing and the UN UN agency from 1954. He added that Jordan condemns Israel's illegal attempts to evict the Palestinians from their homes and lands. Sources in the PA said that dozens of Palestinian families in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood feared the evacuation of close to the houses where they have lived in Sheikh Jarrah since 1956 until today and their delivery to Jews.
Official Documents
Palestinian Authority officials said that dozens of families in "Sheikh Jarrah" are afraid to evacuate their homes in the neighborhood from 1956 until today and hand them over to the Jews.
The Palestinian refugee families came to "Sheikh Jarrah" after the 48th war and settled in their homes under an agreement between the Jordanian government and UNRWA. They are 28 refugee families who paid a symbolic rent with the right to own homes after three years.
Ben Menachem pointed out that "the Jerusalem District Court recently rejected petitions from several Palestinian families living in the (Karm Al Jaouni) complex in Sheikh Jarrah.
According to Palestinian Authority sources, the arrival of Safadi to Ramallah and the transfer of documents to the Palestinian Authority is part of the cooperation on the issue of Jerusalem agreed upon between the Palestinian Authority and Jordan after the crisis of magnetic meters on the Temple Mount in July 2017.
The Palestinian Authority also transmitted Jordanian intelligence information about the involvement of Jordanian speculators in buying homes in East Jerusalem.
According to senior officials in the Authority, Bassem Awadallah, the former head of the royal court detained in Jordan on suspicion of conspiring against King Abdullah, is under investigation, based on information transmitted by Palestine Intelligence to its Jordanian counterpart, regarding the money transferred from the UAE to the "Al-Quds" Foundation For development; To buy land for Jews in East Jerusalem.
Prominent political figures in Israel said, "The Jordanian cooperation with the Palestinian Authority against Israeli legal activity in East Jerusalem is an alarming matter that unnecessarily increases tensions between Israel and Jordan."
In the context, the Hebrew Channel 20 indicated that the Foreign Ministry spokesman, Dhaifallah Al-Fayez, said that "since 2019, copies of all documents found in this regard have handed over to the Palestinian embassy in Amman, at the request of the Palestinian Authority. ".
"The official records of the Ministry of Construction and Development in the Kingdom of Jordan proved, after a thorough examination, that in 1956, lease contracts for housing units signed with some residents of Sheikh Jarrah," he added.
Leases Signed for Housing Units
Foreign Ministry spokesman Dif Allah al-Faiz said that "as early as 2019, copies of all the documents found in this matter were provided to the Palestinian Embassy in Amman, at the request of the Palestinian Authority."
The statement added that "official records of the Ministry of Construction and Development in the Kingdom of Jordan prove, after an in-depth examination, that in 1956, leases were signed for housing units with some of the residents of Sheikh Jarrah."
He further claimed that "the presence of Jerusalemites on their land and homes and the protection of their rights are part of the kingdom's efforts to support the Palestinian brothers," adding that "Jordan condemns Israel's illegal and inhumane attempts to expel Palestinians from their homes and lands and violate their rights."
The transfer of the documents intends to help the Arab residents of the neighborhood fight against the Jerusalem municipality, which seeks to promote development plans in the neighborhood and informed the families of the evacuation of their homes, in which they live illegally.
Baruch Yedid, a former Israeli adviser on Arab affairs, pointed out that "Palestinian families settled in the neighborhood after the War of Independence. The Jordanian government, which controlled the area until 1967, agreed to accommodate them at the UN Relief and Works Agency initiative.
In 1956, the Jordanian government and UNRWA began settling 28 families, and these were granted tenant status for 33 years, while ownership of the place remained in the hands of the Jordanian guardian.
The Jerusalem District Court recently rejected several appeals and ruled that the eight Palestinian families who have lived there illegally for decades should be evacuated. The court initially offered them to pay rent to the Sephardic Community Committee, which owns the land on which the Jordanians built the homes. Still, they refused to do so and were therefore ordered to be evicted.
The former advisor also noted eight families live in the "Kerem al-Ja'uni" complex in the neighborhood. Two separate lawsuits to evacuate seven of the eight families were received by the Magistrates Court, and for the family in the eighth, the Savage, the main proceedings in the Supreme Court, was rejected. In early November, the judge rejected Liat Benmelech the request to delay the eviction.
A few months ago, Turkey passed microfilm containing what it claims to be hundreds of documents of ownership of Muslim property in the Old City.
