HEBRON (The National) 20 Aug by Kate Shuttleworth -- Hazem Abu Rajab, a Palestinian from the West Bank city of Hebron, has barely left his home in the past two months. He lives in constant fear that extremist Jewish settlers will try to take over the property, forcing him and the 15 family members that he lives with out on to the streets. The threat of losing his house has been compounded since August 6 when the Israeli military issued an eviction notice giving the Abu Rajabs 30 days to leave the three-storey building that has been their home for 50 years. The notice said the military was no longer able to protect the family from Jewish settlers who have been trying to take over their home for the past two-and-a-half years. After the settlers stormed the house one night in December 2012, taking over the top level of the house, the military booted them out two weeks later following a court order. However, the military did not return the floor to the Abu Rajabs and at least ten soldiers go in and out of it every day. The military claims that it does not have the manpower to protect the Abu Rajabs against the settlers who have ramped up their efforts to evict the family in recent weeks. But the Abu Rajabs are refusing to give in. Hazem, 28, who is expecting his first child in two months, says that he was called in for an interrogation last Sunday with Israel’s internal security service, the Shin Bet, a move he said was only the latest attempt by the Jewish state to intimidate his family. “I was in jail for two years without charge from 2012,” he said. “A judge even said he didn’t have any reason to keep me in jail.” “They are targeting me because they want to punish my family for not leaving the house.
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