Fire in Silwan/Ras el-Amud

Ras Al Amoud Neighborhood: A hot spot in occupied East Jerusalem

23,June,2003

Background The attempts to colonize more and more lands in East Jerusalem by the ultra-orthodox Jewish religious groups are never halted or stopped. The general case is that religious Jewish groups could seize a house in a Palestinian neighborhood. This time those groups succeeded for the first time to intrude a new colonial construction called Ma'ale Hazeitimat the heart of a Palestinian locality that is Ras Al Amoud neighborhood in East Jerusalem. Land ownership Ras El-Amoud neighborhood is located in East Jerusalem's basin number 7 and parcel number 119 according to the Jordanian classification and basin number 29989 and parcel number 96 according to the Israeli classification. The area of the lot that was reserved for the colonization activity is 14.5 dunums. As for the population, there are about 11,922 Palestinians living in this suburb. Up until September 17th, 1997, no Jewish population was present in the suburb. See Map of Location

The late Hussein El Ghoul family has been using the land since 1837. The family didn't comply with the Ottoman rule regarding land registration that was issued in 1859. Taking advantage of this fact and the fact that the British Mandate authorities were sympathetic with the Jews, two Zionist movements (Chabad and Fahlin) registered the same piece of land in their names in 1928. This registration took place without informing El Ghoul family who continued living in and benefiting from the land. During the Jordanian rein over the West Bank, and according to the sole registration of the site for Chabad and Fahlin movements, this land was registered at the department of 'Custodian of Enemy Properties' (CEP). Based on that fact, and due to the Jordanian relevant authority's refusal to register the land for the family, the representative of El Ghouls sued the CEP and the case was held up in the courts until 1962. In that year both the appeal and the distinction courts recognized the ownership of El-Ghoul family of the land and registered it officially in the name of the family. Distribution and registration of the land after the 1962 court ruling: The land was divided into 16 parts distributed and registered as follows:

Six parts for Our Father Ibrahim Monastery ( Albendekatin Monestary for Mr. Jad Khaleel Michael),
One part sold to Mr. Daoud Al Bitar and his wife,
One part sold to Mr. Musa Zacky Al Ayoubi,
One part that had a house built on for Mr. Khaleel Al Silwani hadia. The piece of land stayed registered to the original owner Mr. Ahmad Hussein El-Ghoul, and
Seven parts remained registered to Mr. Ahmad Hussein El-Ghoul.
http://www.poica.org/editor/case_studies/view.php?recordID=272

NowPublic

World

Photos