HALT THE EVICTION OF SALEH DIAB AND HIS FAMILY

Dear Mayor Lion,

I write to express my grave concern over the imminent forced eviction of Saleh Diab and his family from their home in Sheikh Jarrah in occupied and illegally annexed East Jerusalem. Saleh Diab, a father of five, and his family members, including children, two brothers and their children, have long been under threat of eviction by the settler group Nahalat Shimon International.

Saleh Diab has been at the forefront of the struggle to protect Palestinian families in Sheikh Jarrah against forced eviction, exposing him to extreme violence by both settlers and the police, without protection. After the Jerusalem District Court rejected Saleh Diab’s appeal in February, the last remaining legal lifeline for the family is their second appeal, to be heard before the Supreme Court. If displaced, 23 individuals, including five children, will lose the only place they call home.

The Diab family’s case underscores Israel’s sustained campaign to expand illegal Israeli settlements and step up forced evictions of Palestinian residents in occupied East Jerusalem, such as those in Sheikh Jarrah and Silwan, to make way for Israeli settlers.

I urge you to immediately halt the forced eviction of the Diab family in the neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah and end the ongoing forced displacement of Palestinians from East Jerusalem. If carried out, the evictions would constitute the war crime of unlawful transfer, and, when committed in the context of a widespread or systematic attack directed against the civilian population, would constitute the crime against humanity of forcible transfer. I also urge you to guarantee the protection of Saleh Diab and his family against violence, harassment and attacks by settlers.

Uprooting the family from the home where they had lived for decades is not only cruel, but also a grave breach of international law.

Yours sincerely,

[YOUR NAME]