Israel–Palestine Issue 2021
In May 2021, violent clashes broke out between Palestinians and Israeli police. The main reason for the clashes was the expected decision of the Israeli Supreme Court to order the eviction of Palestinians from the Sheikh Jarrah area of East Jerusalem. Under international law, the disputed territory is actually part of the Palestinian territories currently under Israeli occupation. The clashes happened on the same day as Israelis were celebrating Jerusalem Day and Palestinians were worshiping Laylat al-Qadr. Over 300 people were injured in the clashes, most of them Palestinians.
There was a strong reaction from all over the world and the United Nations strongly condemned it. On May 9, before the flag march of Israeli nationalists, Israeli forces stormed the Al-Aqsa Mosque, one of the holiest sites for Muslims.
Sheikh Jarrah
Sheikh Jarrah is a predominantly Palestinian neighborhood on the mount Scopus road, 2 km north of the ancient city of East Jerusalem. It is named after the thirteenth-century tomb of Salahuddin Ayubi's physician, Sheikh Jarrah, located here. The modern neighborhood was founded in 1865 and gradually became the residence of the Muslim elite of Jerusalem, especially the Al-Husayni Family. During the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, it was an area between the Jordanian-occupied East Jerusalem and the Israeli-occupied West Jerusalem, but the area was occupied by Israel in the 1967 Six-Days War. Most of the Palestinian population is said to be refugees who were evicted from the 1948 Jerusalem student neighborhood.
It is currently the center of many property disputes between Palestinians and Israelis. Israeli nationalists have been trying to evict the Palestinian population from the area since 1967. Over the course of five decades, Israeli settlements have been established in Sheikh Jarrah and several adjoining Israeli towns.
Israeli Supreme Court Decision
A case was pending in the Israeli Supreme Court in which the court was to decide on May 10, 2021, about the six families evicted from the Sheikh Jarrah area of East Jerusalem. Sheikh Jarrah has been controversial for centuries. Two Jewish trustees jointly bought part of Sheikh Jarrah in 1876 from Arab feudal lords. The area was occupied by Jordan during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. Here, Jordan, with the help of the United Nations, built 28 homes for Palestinian refugees who had migrated from the newly formed state of Israel. But during the Six-Day War in 1967, the area was recaptured by Israel and the property was returned to Jewish trustees. Jewish trustees sold the homes to a right-wing settlement organization. It has been trying to evict Palestinian residents ever since. Under Israeli law, Jews can reclaim Jewish property in East Jerusalem before the 1948 Arab-Israeli war. Palestinians do not reclaim any of their property in Israel.