The disputed house in the West Bank city of Hebron saw a tense, but quiet weekend,
during which only a handful of clashes erupted between security forces and members of the city's Jewish community.
On Sunday, thousands of worshipers who arrived on the premises as a show of support left Hebron, as only 20 families and about 300 youths chose to stay in the house, ahead of its evacuation.
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The controversy surrounding the house stems from opposing proprietary claims: The settlers claim the house was bought by a member of the community, while its Palestinian owner denies the sale, claiming the Jewish settlers living in the house are squatters.
Among those who moved into the house over recently, are Brooklyn residents Nahum and Revital Almagor, and their 15-year-old daughter.
"We came to Israel about
a month ago. We saw the reports about the 'peace house' on the news and decided to show our support," said Nahum.
The disputed house (Photo: AFP)
The Almagors have no intentions of leaving: "We will stay here until the end," said Nahum. "I don’t understand why they keep calling it the 'disputed house,'" added Revital. "When you come here you see this is a house of peace."
The Fleishman family has been living in the house for over a year. "We moved in knowing we would be facing troubled times," Miriam Fleishman told Ynet.
As for the possibility that the future evacuation of the property may turn violent, Fleishman said that she is not worried about settler violence, but rather about police violence.
"This is an expulsion not an eviction. Should the moment arrive, God forbid, everyone here will choose what they want to do… we will not act violently, but if anyone tries to remove us forcibly, there will be fierce resistance."
In the meantime, the 300 or so youngsters who came to the house have been sent to work in the fields of Mount Hebron, and none of them is planning on going anywhere.
"We're just going about our lives as normal," said Fleishman, "and we urge the entire public to come and join us."
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