By Donna Baranski-Walker and Matthew Walsh | Executive Director and Deputy Director
After Representative Speier sent her letter to the Prime Minister of Israel, the Supreme Court agreed to hear the Sumarin Family’s appeal. The good news is that the Justice is asking all the right questions. She asked the State (the Government of Israel) to explain why the Absentee Property Law was imposed when the family was never absent. According to Hagit Ofran at Peace Now, “Currently the State’s response in the Sumreen’s case is due on February 15th.”
Bringing the Sumreen’s Jerusalem case before the High Court gave Rebuilding Alliance the confidence to use this approach for the Salhiah family, also of East Jerusalem. Then we tried crowdfunding to cover a court-ordered deposit for a West Bank appeal and to our surprise, the Israeli Military withdrew the demolition order, the appeal was not even needed anymore, and the Court returned the deposit!
Your support gave the Sumreen family a way to do more than hold on — you gave them a way to press for justice. Now, with a new government in Israel, the independence of the Supreme Court and the High Court is itself at risk. "If implemented," writes Haaretz columnist Amir Tibon, "by the new Benjamin Netanyahu-led coalition, [the new judicial reforms] would dramatically weaken Israel’s top court and give unlimited powers to the government."
Just recently on December 27, 2023, their olive groves on land leased from the Greek Orthodox Church, were confiscated by the same settler group, under Police Supervision, that seeks to push the Sumreen family out of their house. The family has been cultivating this land, of 1.2 acres, since the early 1900s.
Near the end of February Rebuilding Alliance brings our first Senate staff delegation to meet with the Sumreen family and the Sumreen Coalition. Our visit comes at a pivotal time, right after the Court hears from the State. We will certainly keep you posted as the Supreme Court responds. Be ready, because the Sumreens may need your help to press your members of Congress to intervene.
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