3 Ways To Help #SaveSheikhJarrah

Sheikh Jarrah is a Palestinian neighborhood in occupied East Jerusalem that has been experiencing forced expulsions by the Israeli Defense Force. Hundreds of families have been protesting the evictions of six Palestinian families, and as a result, over 200 Palestinians have been injured and several arrested after reported violence of Israeli settlers.

According to an official statement from the people of Sheikh Jarrah from March that listed their demands, Israeli settlers have succeeded in controlling four and a half homes and displacing a number of families in Sheikh Jarrah since 1972.

“In early 2021, the Occupation’s Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court issued a new decision giving the families of al-Jaouni, al-Qasim, Iskafi and El-Kurds until May 2 to vacate their homes, and gave the families of al-Daoudi, al-Dajani and Hammad until August. In addition, the court issued a decision to dispossess the Al-Sabbagh family,” the statement reads.

Below are three ways to help save the homes of the Sheikh Jarrah families, as suggested by sources directly on the Sheikh Jarrah land including writer Mohammed El Kurd whose family is in danger of losing their home.

Ways To Help Save Sheikh Jarrah

1. Sign Petitions

There are currently two petitions, Sign the Petition to #StopJerusalemExpulsions and #SaveSheikhJarrah

The petition also urges for people to call on the U.S. Secretary of State Tony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin to demand an end to Israel illegal evictions of Palestinians and demolitions of their homes.

The U.S. provides Israel with over $3.8 billion annually in military assistance, directly implicating the United States in Israeli crimes throughout occupied Palestine. U.S. Citizens are able to send a letter to their members of congress in regards to Sheikh Jarrah at Al-Awda.org.

2. Social Media

There has been a trend of social media companies erasing Palestinian-related content with claims of violating Community Guidelines. Following and re-sharing the events and raising awareness using the hashtags #SaveSheikhJarrah and its Arabic equivalent #انقذوا_حي_الشيخ_جراح helps combat the erasure.

The families of Sheikh Jarrah have provided sample tweets in English and Arabic for people to raise awareness.

 

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A post shared by محمد الكرد (@mohammedelkurd)

3. Donate

Donations to Grassroots Al-Quds supports Palestinian resilience and community mobilization. The Institute for Middle East Understanding voices support for Palestinian rights.

To keep up with what’s happening on the ground in Sheikh Jarrah, suggested online users who include the affected families are @mohammedelkurd, @muna.kurd15, @ayakhalaf.official, and @kokym7.