Abdel Raouf Arnaout
17 January 2022•Update: 17 January 2022
JERUSALEM
A Palestinian has threatened to set himself and his family on fire in protest of an Israeli eviction order.
Israeli municipal authorities issued an order to expel Mahmoud al-Salihiya and his family from their house and a plant nursery in Jerusalem’s Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood to build a school in their place.
Years-long attempts by the family to have the order revoked have failed.
Israeli forces on Monday managed to vacate the nursery plant by force, and sought to evacuate the house, but Mahmoud climbed to the roof of the house and threatened to set himself and his family ablaze in the event of eviction.
“We will not leave here, either we die or we live," a fuming Mahmoud shouted as he carried a container of gasoline.
"The (Israeli) municipality wants to remove a family from their home in order to set up schools. Who are the schools for? Schools for them, for the Jews," he explained.
"Whoever approaches, I will burn the house which is full of gas pipes, and I will bomb the house with whoever inside," he warned.
Some young men who were among the family's friends poured gasoline on the roof of the house.
The house is located near dozens of homes threatened with eviction, which the Israeli Supreme Court has not yet issued a verdict regarding Israeli settlers’ request to evict Palestinian families.
*Writing by Ibrahim Mukhtar
