Ethnic battle over Sheikh Jarrah
Neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah in East Jerusalem is going for decades under a process of enthinic gentrification, and has become one of the main symbols of the Palestnian - Israeli conflict.
The modern neighborhood was founded on 1865 and occupied mostly Arab population. In 1876 Both Jewish committees of Jerusalem purchased the plots of the cave of the tomb of Shimon the Righteous. During the war of 1948, the Palestnians residents had flee east - to the area controlled by the Jordanians, while the Jewish habitants were evacuated by the Israeli defense organization from the war zone within the neighborhood. For the most part, Jewish refugees received compensation for the property they left behind. After the war the neighborhood was abandoned and the Jordanian army permitted Palestnians refugees arriving from the west to settle in the houses. 28 additional small housing units were built by the UN and Jordan in the site.
Following the 1967 war, Israel annexed East Jerusalem from Jordan - including the neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah (as well as the entire West Bank). Since then, using the Absentee Property Law, All Palestinian property falls within the definitions of the Absentee Property Law, and has been transferred to the State Authority. Only Jews are allowed to ask for and receive what they have left on the other side.
Four families were already forcibly evicted from their houses in 2009, which are now homes to Jewish settlers. 13 more families, about 300 people, are attending their eviction after losing through legal battle. Since 2009, on a weekly basis, every Friday - a solidarity Palestnian Jewish protest marches through the neighborhood, calling to end the occupation in the neighborhood.
This Polyptychs made of photos taken in Sheikh Jarrah since April 2021 to December 2021, 28 arrivals to the neighborhood. Among them peaceful day as well as protests and riots. I’ve tried to collect them into a collection attempting to reveal Sheikh Jarrah’s genius loci, spirit of a place.
