Palestinian family protests east Jerusalem home eviction

By ILAN BEN ZION
Associated Press

JERUSALEM (AP) — Palestinian residents of a flashpoint east Jerusalem neighborhood are locked in a tense standoff with Israeli authorities after police came to evict them from a disputed property. Several residents of a home in Sheikh Jarrah climbed onto the roof of the building on Monday with gas tanks and threatened to set them alight should the municipality follow through with the eviction. Residents say they purchased the property before 1967, when Israel captured east Jerusalem. The state has argued in court that the family does not have property rights. City Hall and the police say the court ordered the family to vacate the property for a school to serve Palestinian children.