Silwan, a largely Palestinian neighborhood in East Jerusalem near the Temple Mount and the Western Wall, has emerged as a flashpoint in Israel’s conflict with the Palestinians.

In the past few years, 28 families, consisting of 160 Palestinians, have been forcibly displaced from their homes in Silwan, according to the United Nations. These displacements, having taken place through evictions or home demolitions, have benefited Israeli Jews, some of whose ancestors lost their homes before and during Israel’s birth.

Trans-Jordan, later known as Jordan, conquered the eastern part of Jerusalem during the first Arab-Israeli war in 1948, and Silwan fell under Jordan’s administration.

In 1967, shortly after the Six Day War, Israel expanded the boundaries of greater Jerusalem and unilaterally annexed Silwan and other Arab neighborhoods. Since then, a steady stream of Jews has flowed into Silwan, which is inhabited today by 55,000 to 60,000 Palestinians and upwards of 2,800........

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