Documents show land for new US embassy belonged to Palestinians before 1948

Several Palestinian families in the US and east Jerusalem presented rental contracts and other documents proving they owned the land chosen for the new US embassy in Jerusalem before the 1948 war. 

The families are calling on the US and Israel to cancel their plans to build a big diplomatic complex in southern Jerusalem, saying the new embassy would be located on the private property confiscated from Palestinians, Haaretz reported. 

The statement comes two days before US President Joe Biden’s visit to Israel. The current US embassy is located in a temporary building in the Arnona neighborhood, but according to the plan drafted nearly a year and a half ago, American diplomats are expected to move to the Allenby Complex when the new embassy is built.

Together with the Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, families Habib, Qleibo, El Khalidi, Razzaq and El-Khalili presented rental contracts between them and the British Mandatory government going back decades. The papers show that the British established a military base there called Allenby Barracks and paid annual rent to the Palestinians, who owned the land.

However, all Palestinian property in west Jerusalem was transferred to Israeli authorities in 1950 under the Absentee Property Law, which allowed Israel to seize property left behind by Palestinian refugees.

For Palestinians, the 1948 War of Independence, which led to the establishment of the State of Israel, is referred to as the "Nakba" - “catastrophe” in Arabic. According to the Palestinian narrative, over 760,000 Palestinians were expelled from their homes in villages that are today part of the Jewish state.