Press Releases

BADIL Alternative Information Center 
For Immediate Release 
27 February 1998 

Israeli authorities visited Sumoud Camp in Siwane neighborhood in East Jerusalem for a second time yesterday to gather information from the camp’s residents in preparation for their eviction.  According to the Israeli daily Haaretz, the head of the Meretz faction on the Israeli Jerusalem Municipal Council said that city officials accompanied by 200 police will serve eviction notice to the camp’s residents on Sunday, March 1.  Some 1,500 police are expected to carry out the eviction a week later. 

Elwyn, Inc., a U.S. based organization with sites in several American states, provides services for Jews and Palestinians with physical and developmental disabilities at several centers in Jerusalem.  Prior to the establishment of the Sumoud Camp in August 1997, Elwyn had already secured an agreement with the Islamic Waqf to build a new center on a portion of the land in Siwane, however, unconfirmed reports suggest that the Municipal initiative to evict the camp residents was not made at the request of Elwyn.  It appears, therefore, that the Municipality is using the previous agreement as a cover to shut down the camp and evict the residents. 

Concerned persons are requested to contact Israeli officials to protest the closure of the camp and eviction of the Palestinian residents, most of whom have no place to go. 

Fax to: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, (972)-2-566-4838; and Israeli Jerusalem Mayor Ehud Olmert, (972)-2-629-7997.  Electronic Mail: Prime Minister Netanyahu: [email protected]; Israeli Government Press Office, [email protected].  Letters of concern may be directed to Elwyn Communications Department, [email protected]. 

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For more information contact: BADIL-Alternative Information Center, Bethlehem, tel/fax 972-2-747346, email: [email protected]; Jerusalem Center for Women, tel 972-2-5747068, fax 972-2-5747069