The Palestinian Authority is concerned that dozens of families from the east Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan may be evicted from their homes in the near future.
Concerns arose following the Justice Ministry's demand to stop the process of issuing building permits in the area, under the claim that the families do not own the land they live on.
The issue was raised about two weeks ago, during a Jerusalem District Planning and Construction Committee hearing aimed at settling a dispute over a Silwan resident's building permits.
A Justice Ministry attorney took part in the hearing and argued that the entire site in question is not owned by the families living on it, making the hearing irrelevant. The lawyer also pointed out that there were plans to have the site evicted, and the hearing came to an end.
The plot of land in question has an area of dozens of acres on which over 1,000 people live in about 70 buildings. According to the Palestinians, the absolute majority of the buildings were constructed with permits dozens of years ago.
Palestinian Authority sources called the case "another attempt by the Israeli authorities to steal Palestinian lands and homes."
During the hearing, the Palestinian Authority was represented by an attorney appointed by Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad's advisor on Jerusalem affairs, Hatem Abdel Kader.
Abdel Kader's office is studying the case ahead of the possibility that dozen's of families may be left homeless. The team is attempting to obtain documents proving the buildings in question were under Arab ownership from the time of the Jordanian rule over east Jerusalem.
Fayyad's advisor refused to comment on the case in a conversation with Ynet, but other Palestinian sources said the Israeli Justice Ministry representative's comments were "dangerous".
The Justice Ministry in response said, "The Administrator General manages the absentees' properties, including land in the area of the Silwan village.
"As its duty, and for the protection of the absentees' rights, it had a representative take part in the hearing that was held in the District Committee to which it presented its case."
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