“Joint statement: Save Sheikh Jarrah”, May 2021

Statement signed by unions and civil society organisations calls on British Government to take action over Israel’s ethnic cleansing of neighbourhoods in occupied East Jerusalem

A statement signed by 19 British unions and civil society organisations has been released today condemning Israel’s illegal eviction of Palestinian families and their replacement with Jewish settlers. The signatories refer to Israel’s “demographic manipulation and ethnic cleansing,” citing the example of Sheikh Jarrah. A total of 67 people from three families in Sheikh Jarrah were evicted in 2009, and signatories highlight their concern for four more families which are now facing eviction in the coming days – an act which would risk their Jerusalem residency rights and render them homeless.

Ben Jamal, Director of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign said: “These evictions are part of a broader range of policies and laws employed by Israel to further ethnically cleanse Palestinians from Jerusalem … We call on the British Government to demand an end to current proceedings to evict these families, and more broadly to begin taking meaningful action to hold Israel accountable for all its actions which contribute to the crime of apartheid.”