After two decades of legal struggle, the Ruweidi family from Silwan has been granted recognition by the courts that they are indeed the rightful owners of their home. The decision rejects the Jewish National Fund's claim that the home is the property of the State of Israel. Moriel Rothman contributed to this report. The Jerusalem District Court ruled in favor of the Ruweidi family from East Jerusalem last week (May 2), accepting the claim that their home is not "absentee property," as the Jewish National Fund has sought to prove in court since the 1990s. The Ruweidi family will thus be…

On Wednesday two leading Palestinian activists from Silwan were arrested in separate incidents. Adnan Gheith, who is to start “serving” his four-month expulsion order from Jerusalem next week, and Jawad Siyam, leading activist in Silwan and director of the Wadi Hilweh Information Center. The exact details behind each arrest and the veracity of the charges are not entirely clear, so this report will be updated as need be when more information surfaces. It is important to note that while all these arrests are well situated in a political and hegemonic context, they do reflect the complex and charged nature of the situation…