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How Israel expanded its occupation of Jerusalem
Despite Obama's attempt to halt Israeli settlements, hundreds of Palestinians continue to be evicted in the sacred land of East Jerusalem. This powerful front-line report challenges the Israelis over the practice.
"They didn't give me time to get my things!", cries one young girl, standing outside her former home in the old town of Jerusalem. Not so far away, Nasser Jabber tries to reason with the Israeli police blocking the entrance to his home. "I have the documentation!" , he cries but the police refuse to remove the Israeli's settling inside the apartment, even delivering them food. "They tried to buy the house more than once", Nasser says, "I know who they are". Settler groups are increasingly using the Israeli court system as a means of acquiring new properties in the east. "A Jew not only has the right, a Jew should be compelled to buy", says Daniel Luria, the head of an ultra-nationalist religious group. His aim is to buy up as much Palestinian property in East Jerusalem as he can, and to move Jewish families in. "The Arabs are out and they're in!" an Arab woman cries, as the Israeli police escort Jewish settlers into the home she has just been evicted from. Despite his documentation, Nasser is never re-admitted to his home. "The Israeli courts here operate in a political manner, rather than in a strict legal manner" says Roy Dickinson, an EU diplomat. "God promised us Jerusalem", says an Israeli settler, "now it's finally happening".
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