Seventeen Arab families were evicted yesterday from buildings facing streets leading to the Western Wall. The buildings will be occupied by Israeli troops as a security measure arising from last Friday’s bomb explosions in buildings on a narrow street used by worshippers walking to and from the Wall. Most of the Arab families left without protest. A cafe owner and three families refused to accept the Israeli offer of alternative living quarters and were forcibly evicted. The evacuated structures included a mosque and court known as the Mahkama, which abuts on the Western Wall. Israeli authorities claimed the location of its windows posed a security problem to worshippers at the Wall. The building has served as an Arab high school since the 1967 war.
Jerusalem municipal authorities undertook to find alternative living quarters for the evicted families after the eviction orders became a public issue. They also offered to pay a year’s rent. The offer was accepted by most of the families who have moved to Silwan and Abu Tor outside of the Old City. The cafe owner protested that a year’s rent would not compensate him for the loss of his business. The evictions and the demolition of Arab-owned buildings adjacent to the Wailing Wall has caused alarm among East Jerusalem Arabs and has drawn bitter denunciation from Arab countries.
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