Hundreds of Palestinians take part in Bab Ashams sit-in in east J’lem

Hundreds of Palestinians from the Bedouin communities of occupied Jerusalem and Sawahreh area participated in a sit-in on Friday morning to protest Israel’s intended annexation of their lands.

These lands are called Zaneba by the Palestinians and many Bedouin families from the Sawahreh Arabs have been living there for more than 80 years.
Activists built a camp of 30 tents in the area and named it Bab Ashams (Gate of the Sun) village to stage a sit-in against the Israeli annexation plan.

The Israeli government decided to build 4,000 settlement units on these lands as part of its E1 project, which is aimed at connecting the Israeli settlements in Jerusalem with Maale Adumim settlement and separating east Jerusalem from the West Bank.

A few hours after the establishment of Bab Ashams village, the Israeli army on Friday issued orders to evacuate the camp immediately, although the Israeli higher court prevented its evacuation before six days.

In a related incident, the Israeli occupation forces (IOF) on Saturday afternoon besieged Bab Ashams village and closed all entrances leading to its camp that is located east of Jerusalem.

The IOF declared the village or the camp a closed military area and prevented activists and Bedouins of nearby villages from entering the area, according to eyewitnesses.