The Israeli activists who settled recently in a disputed building in East Jerusalem on Thursday offered a compromise to the State Prosecution, according to which they would seal off the top levels of the building they claim is theirs in exchange for the right to live there.
In a letter to State Prosecutor Moshe Lador, the residents of Beit Yonatan said that would forfeit the top three floors of their building, thus keeping their own residence to four stories.
Following a protracted public battle with the state's top legal officials, Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat last month agreed to order the municipality to abide by a court order demanding Beit Yonatan be evacuated and sealed in its entirety.
The building, built five years ago in the heart of the Arab neighborhood of Silwan, is currently home to eight Jewish families.
The municipality ordered the building evacuated because it violated several building codes. The evacuation order was upheld by numerous courts, including the Supreme Court. Nonetheless, Barkat requested that the order be delayed so that he would have time to formulate a plan to legalize all illegal construction in Silwan.
Court: Some East Jerusalem protesters can march to Jewish area
Meanwhile, the High Court of Justice on Thursday gave partial approval to a petition submitted by left-wing activists requesting permission to march over the weekend to an Israeli neighborhood in another Arab section of East Jerusalem.
While not all the activists will be allowed to march to the "House of Contention", the court has permitted a select number to head toward the Jewish area following their protests in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood.
Supreme Court justices earlier Thursday summoned Jerusalem Chief of Police, Major General Aharon Franco, to court to explain his reasons for denying Leftists the right to protest on Saturday in Sheikh Jarrah .
"It will be difficult to stop the violent clashes between demonstrators and Jewish families if they are permitted the protest they have requested to hold on Saturday,' Franco said in defense of their decision.
In response to Franco's explanation Supreme Court President Justice Dorit Beinisch said: "Reality is tough but it is the police forces' duty to overcome its' obstacles."
The justices harshly criticized Jerusalem police over their handling of the protests in East Jerusalem and said that "the police's behavior regarding these protests takes us 30 years backwards."
This criticism was issued by the justices during a court hearing on a petition filed by residents of Sheikh Jarrah, who demanded to be allowed to protest on this coming Saturday night, a demonstration the police hasn't authorized.
The justices sided with the residents and stressed that the police should not take away the residents' right to protest. Protesters demand the right to demonstrate in Sheikh Jarrah near the contested houses inhabited by settlers which once belonged to Palestinians.
Last December, police arrested 25 left-wing activists during a protest which turned into a violent confrontation with security forces. Some 300 activists took part in the demonstration.
Front Page Features