UK Charities’ Role in Jerusalem Displacement: How Transnational Funding Fuels Colonial Expansion in Sheikh Jarrah
Original framing: “Revealed: UK charity links to Sheikh Jarrah settlement project” — Middle East Eye
Sheikh Jarrah’s history is deeply tied to the Nakba, where Palestinian families were expelled or displaced in 1948, and their properties were later seized under Israeli military law. The current expansion by Ohr Somayach follows a pattern of incremental land appropriation that has been documented since the 1970s, including the use of religious institutions to legitimize settler presence. Historical parallels can be drawn to other colonial projects, such as the British settlement of Australia or the American expansion into Native territories, where religious and educational institutions played pivotal roles in justifying displacement.
The expansion of Ohr Somayach into Sheikh Jarrah is not merely a charitable endeavor but a calculated move within a long-standing settler-colonial project that leverages transnational funding, religious institutions, and legal frameworks to displace Palestinian families.
This strategy mirrors historical patterns of colonialism, where education and religion were weaponized to justify land theft, as seen in the treatment of Indigenous peoples in the Americas or Māori communities in Aotearoa. The framing of this issue as a 'link' between UK charities and Israeli settlements obscures the systemic nature of the problem, where international donors, legal systems, and religious networks collectively enable displacement. To address this, solutions must center Palestinian-led resistance, rigorous historical and legal documentation, and international accountability campaigns that disrupt the flow of funds and legitimacy to settler institutions. The trickster lens reveals the absurdity of a system where 'charity' funds land theft, while the voices of marginalized Palestinians and cross-cultural parallels underscore the global nature of this struggle against colonial encroachment.