Seizing the Petra Hotel in the Old City of Jerusalem
On Sunday, settlers took over the Petra Hotel in Omar ibn Al-Khattab Square / Jaffa Gate, in the Old City of Jerusalem, after storming it with policemen and officers, and preventing the tenants, the "Qirresh family" from being in it.
The Petra Hotel is part of a deal in which hotels, land and real estate were leaked to settler associations by the former Greek Orthodox Patriarch Irnius in 2004, and the settlement company "Bresford" had claimed to buy the rights to the Petra Hotel.
Lawyer Medhat Dibeh confirmed that the settlers' storming of the hotel and their continued presence in it is illegal, and was carried out by force without any legal decision.
Dibeh added that the settlers claim that they obtained a decision to “evacuate the hotel” and implement it on March 31, and after reviewing the decision, it was found that the Qirresh family, “the tenant of the hotel,” was not mentioned, nor was an eviction decision issued against them, nor did they go to the “Execution and Procedure Department.” ".
Dibeh explained that the Petra Hotel case has been in the courts for 20 years.
At noon, lawyer Dibeh and the young men went to the hotel, during which dozens of settlers assaulted them, who were placing a door at one of the hotel's entrances.
Dibeh explained that he was arrested at the hotel while providing legal advice to the Qirresh family, and was detained for 6 hours.
In the evening, the police at the hotel's door prevented access to it, evacuated its surroundings, and arrested the two young men, Musa Khalaf and Firas al-Atrash.
The lawyers' team confirmed that they are going to submit a request to the court on Monday to evacuate the settlers from the property.
