Rami Othman, Gheith's lawyer, said he would file an appeal, against the expulsion in the Israeli High Court. Police forces were seen gathering in the area ahead of the Al-Nabb family’s eviction from their home in the Batten El-Hawa neighborhood in East Jerusalem’s Silwan district.
The move comes at a time when Jewish occupiers are moving into the disputed neighborhood and confirms Silwan residents’ fears that the expulsion order against Gheith, 34, is aimed at pacifying legitimate protest, political activity and grass-roots activism.
On Nov. 28, at the peak of three months of political persecution and intimidation which included arrests, harassment and repeated threats, Gheith was summoned to yet another of many interrogations at the police station at the Russian Compound in Jerusalem. Once Gheith and one of the leaders of the agitation against home demolition plans in Silwan appeared at the police station, he was served with a letter informing him that the security authorities had presented the Minister of Internal Security with evidence concerning his activity in the Jerusalem area and that the military commander intends to expel him from Jerusalem and its surrounding areas for four months.
The Popular Struggle Coordination Committee, an organization fighting for Palestinian rights in Jerusalem, said Gheith's expulsion was intended to prepare the ground for massive home demolitions in the Al-Bustan neighborhood and for a deepening Jewish settlement in Silwan.
It said that despite repeated arrests, in which Gheith was led handcuffed to interrogation no less than seven times — and the courts releasing him time after time — the police had not managed to present the slightest bit of evidence against him. The government has now decided to no longer bother with the criminal procedure where evidence is required, but rather to circumvent it by using the security apparatus, the committee said in a statement.
The Israeli military is making use of an emergency regulation enacted by the British Mandate in 1945 to order Gheith’s expulsion. The use of the 65-year-old order follows a wave of protests against government-backed plans to demolish at least 22 Palestinian homes to make way for an Israeli-sponsored tourism park.
Since the early 1990s, Silwan has seen one of the most powerful settlement enterprises in the occupied territories. With the help of various Israeli authorities, many properties passed into the hands of right-wing extremist organizations such as Elad and Ateret Cohanim who also effectively control tourism and archeology in the area.
