Stop (again) the eviction of the Al-Aju family ›

Photo of Abed al-Razak and  al-Aju  from the site “Solidarity Sheikh Jarrah”

(This post was first published on the site “Solidarity Sheikh Jarrah”)

The al-Aju family’s struggle is part of the national struggle of families in public housing for their rights to decent housing and against the greed for profit of Amidar. See event on Facebook.

It’s nowover a year since the extended al-Aju family, numbering 8 nuclear families and more than 50 people, have been fighting against the eviction orders of the public housing company, Amidar.  In April2011, in July , and again last January, we succeeded in preventing the eviction of members of the al-Aju family from their homes on17 Yehezkel Street, Ramle.  The family has lived in this site for more than 50 years.  In 1948, during the war, Abed al-Razak al-Aju and his family fled from their house in Lod but, on their way toJordan, they were stopped by forces of the Israeli army.  They could not return to Lod and in 1960 they rented an old, crumbling house in Ramle and the small area around it from Amidar, which managed the assets expropriated by the state.  Today, members of the extended family are weak in resources and they are exactly the people for whom the public housing company was set up.  However, instead of helping the family, Amidar insists on throwing them out into the street in order to sell the land at a profit, and without offering alternative housing.

The attempt to evict the family is yet another of the many eviction orders hanging over the heads of many families.  The Development Authority and Amidar which manages its assets have declared war on mixed cities, with the aim of strengthening the policy of separation followed by the Israeli state.  Many Palestinian families have been turned out in an attempt to drive them from the cities and to house in their place a stable Jewish population.  Many Palestinian families have found themselves evicted for a second time.  The practice of destruction, expulsion, and making the area Jewish being carried out  today on members of the al-Aju family has also been carried out against many families in Ramle, Lod, Yafo and other mixed cities

At the beginning of July, Amidar issued a flexible eviction order for three months for the house of Abed Razak al-Aju, 84-years’ old, who today is registered as an invalid.  Another eviction order is due to be executed on 16.7 for the home of two other families Amin and Nawal al-Aju and their five children and Muhmad and Sajda al-Aju and their eight children.

Abed Razak and Ibrahim al-Aju and their family are determined to fight for their right to stay in their house and their right to housing.  We demand that Amidar rescind the eviction order and open a dialogue with the family in order to find a suitable solution.

Join us, because social justice is not just a slogan.

What can be done:

1. Join the campaign of letters to Amidar, the Housing Ministry demanding the stopping of the eviction and opening a dialogue with the family.  At the bottom there is a draft of a letter with e-mails and fax numbers.  Take a few minutes to send e-mails to the relevant offices.

.2. Join the group supporting the family (in shifts), for registration and further details: 0522211083. You can also register electronically.

3. Distribute this post and the attached links.

You can fax a letter to the authorities about Abed Razak al-Aju  free using the following site: http://www.freefax.co.il/upload-fck.php