PNN exclusive / Maisa Abu Ghazaleh – A large police unit forcibly evicted the Abu Shimla family from Haifa this week, a city with a large Palestinian population within the boundaries of the Israeli state.

The three-story home was the scene of a physical assault on both the residents and the property alike. Windows were smashed and contents confiscated.

MP in the Islamist movement on the United Arab List, Ghanayim, paid a solidarity visit to the family on Thursday knowing they were under threat. Residents of the house included 10 children.

Mother Fatima described the arrival of police. “It was 8:30 in the morning on Tuesday when a major number of troops surrounded the house and told us to surrender to a judicial decision I knew nothing about. The police treated us brutally and barbarically. They hurled a barrage of insults and physical abuse, and broke walls, the bathroom, windows and doors. Nothing was spared.”

The couple told Masoud, “The objective with this intense brutality was clearly to scare us, to intimidate us into leaving our home. And not only us; this was aimed at the population of the region, many of whom have suffered similar treatment. They are trying to force us out, to dictate our eviction and deportation. But we are staying here. We will not leave our home.”

The Palestinian neighborhood of Haifa, a city along the coast within Israeli boundaries, is one of dozens of areas under threat.
 
A neighbor, Mohammad, says that Israeli police officers also tried to force the evacuation of his home, but this time by saying he owed 30,000 shekels. Deputy Ghanyim told PNN, “There are 25 housing units in the neighborhood that suffer from the same problem. Arab leaders and competent authorities must address the issue before it is too late.”
 
Of the Abu Shimla family Ghanayim said, “The process carried out to evict them was a military operation organized by special units and this illustrates the racism and barbarism that Arab citizens are subjected to in the Israeli state. This would not happen to Jewish citizens.”

The Palestinian member of Israeli Knesset went on to say that, like Jerusalem, Haifa is undergoing an intense Judaization process.
 

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