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Land and Space
Photo

Child Witness

A Palestinian schoolgirl stands surrounded by Israeli forces guarding a Palestinian house that has just been forcibly taken over by dozens of Jewish settlers in Sheikh Jarrah, East Jerusalem, November 3, 2009. 

Credit: 

Gali Tibbon/AFP via Getty Images 

On November 3, 2009, dozens of Israeli settlers took over the al-Kurd family house in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah. Armed with an Israeli court order that was issued after a lengthy legal dispute with the Palestinian family, the settlers were accompanied by a private security company during the takeover. Members of the al-Kurd family protested outside the house along with local residents and pro-Palestinian activists, as settlers hurled the family’s belongings into the street, according to witnesses. 

In the scene, a young Palestinian girl wearing a school uniform stands near the house, possibly on her way to or from school, confronted with the reality that she—or her neighbors—can no longer return home.