Wednesday, March 18

Barricade successful, (for the time being)

From the early morning hours Manar Haj and her three young children (13, 9 and 3 years old) as well as many of the neighbours and local activists prevented the police from carrying out another eviction in Jaffa.
After several hours of being barricaded inside the small home, a lawyer managed to get a weeks time, in order to try and find a solution.

Manar is the divorced mum of three young children. When she married, some 14 years ago, she moved into the house of her husband's parents, as is common in Jaffa. His parents were public housing residents (Halamish), after they had been made to give up their large home in Ajami, years earlier, by the Israel land authority.
Over time the parents moved out and their son, his wife and the children stayed in the house. By law, as second generation they were entitled to.
Manar and her husband divorced and she stayed in the house with the kids. That's when trouble started. the housing company decided to move her out, insisting she was a squatter. Manar took a lawyer, not knowing this lawyer had been disbarred. she gave him all the money she had and would call him every few weeks to get an update as to how her case was coming along. He promised her all was going to be fine and no one would move her out of her home. Until the day she got the court order with the eviction notice - for the next day. Only then did she learn her lawyer had been disbarred, but she had no money left for a legal defence.
She called the housng company who told her to come over.
There she was made a "grand offer". She was to choose between either being moved out forcefully the next day or stay another 2 months for 3500 NIS a month (her total income stands at about 3000 NIS monthly) and then mve out on her own. Feeling she had no choice, she "agreed". It was eioher the street or some more time in her home.
Although she tried, she was not able to find a home she could afford.

So this morning the goonteam (police, including special forces- yasam) came over. Manar and her children as well as the neighbours and activists barricaded inside the home and gathered in the street, while a lawyer went to court.
We gained another week....






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