Israel Matzav

'Palestinians' rebuild 'outpost' in Beit Ihksa

'Palestinians' on Friday returned to an illegal outpost near Beit Ikhsa, an Arab village between the Jewish neighborhoods of Ramot and Mevasseret (whose name has been a source of laughter for Israeli children for two generations for reasons that are obvious to any Hebrew speaker). The IDF has closed the village, but as best as I can tell has not dismantled the illegal outpost a second time.

The illegal outpost, which Arabs have named al-Karamah (Dignity), was established last Friday near the PA Arab village of Beit Iksa, located between the Ramot and Mevasseret Zion neighborhoods of Jerusalem.

On Saturday, the Arabs who set up the outpost said they planned to erect more tents in the outpost,  as well as finish the construction of a small mosque in the encampment.

The Arabs have said that the reason for the outpost is the fact that Beit Iksa is set to be entirely encircled by Israel's border fence, cutting it off from Jerusalem.

Israeli authorities ordered the confiscation of 124 acres of the village's land three weeks ago, and do not permit any new building in the town, they claimed.

There have been no new reports on this in Israeli media, but Arab media is making it sound like the squatters are still in the illegal outpost.

Meanwhile, Israeli forces closed the Palestinian village of Beit Iksa, to the northwest of Jerusalem, and barred Palestinians and their foreign supporters from entering the village.

Nabil Hababeh, the coordinator of the Beit Iksa Popular Committee Against the Wall and Settlements, said that the soldiers manned the only checkpoint leading to the village “as a punishment against the residents and their foreign supporters for re-erecting the Al-Karamah (Dignity)” tent village.

On Friday, dozens of Palestinian activists re-erected tents at an Al-Karamah camp which was erected two weeks ago in the area between Beit Iksa and Lifta to protest Israeli settlement construction plans in the area. The Israeli forces dismantled the outpost and forcibly removed activists from the encampment Monday. 

That means last Monday, the 21st. But on Friday, they returned. Hmmm.

Labels: Jerusalem is the capital of Israel, Palestinian squatters

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 7:29 PM