By Maria Syed | Analyst and Strategist
“The Israeli justice system moves slowly,” said Mr. Salhiah when asked about the progress on the case. The family and former residents filed their lawsuit against the City of Jerusalem in December 2022, when the family transferred the $24,000 raised by this crowdfunding effort to meet the court's requirement of guarantee. The Jerusalem District Court is holding that guarantee but still has not set a date for their hearing. Meanwhile, the Municipality and Police are demanding that the Salhiah family pay for the demolition costs — but they are suing for wrongful demolition!
The Salhiah family is working with their lawyer to build their case. They want to hire the services of an expert who can give an estimate of the damages incurred by the Salhiah family. The expert will charge a fee of $5000-$6000. Mr. Salhiah seeks your help to hire the expert so to win the case.
To reduce their costs, the family moved to smaller apartment, and pays 3000 shekels/month ($800) in rent. Mr. Salhiah explained that he could not afford the place they were living in before. Even though his two older children have started working, it's still was not enough. He lost the nursery in the demolitions and is investing his time and expertise to start his own farm.
Mr. Salhiah has made some progress on the farm. He has planted 100 trees, of which 40 are olive trees and the rest are almond trees. There’s plenty of time for them to grow into trees though. He has been trying hard to get the Ministry of Agriculture to provide him with seedlings and plants for the farm. The Ministry first promised delivery in April, later pushing it to June, and pushed it back to August now. Mr. Salhiah hopes to secure investment to start greenhouse farming, grow high-quality vegetables, and have some livestock.
Mr. Salahia hold out hope that they will win when they have their day in court. Their victory would pave the way for other Palestinian families to bring their cases forward too and might even curtail demolitions in East Jerusalem.
Thank you again for your support.
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