Bab al-Shams: Palestinians create “facts on the ground”
Photo blog by Eloise Bollack - Wafa Images
At dawn on Friday, January 11, around 250 Palestinians erected 25 tents and a medical center on rocky desert terrain near the village of Zaim, establishing the first Palestinian outpost in the E1 area of the Jerusalem district.
The village named Bab al-Shams, or the gate of the Sun, is built on privately owned Palestinian lands. That same day, at noon, it was visited by the Israeli army who issued stop working orders and demanded the evacuation of the site. The owner of the land immediately appealed the military order at the High Court, which issued an injunction prohibiting the eviction for six days. The Palestinians stayed and braved the freezing night with more joining the next day, walking hours through the mountainous terrain to reach the encampment, as all roads had been blocked off. Individuals and companies donated food and blankets to support the activists and Palestinian Authority officials praised the initiative.
Early Saturday evening, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu announced that the government was petitioning the court to retract its ruling and had instructed security forces to immediately evacuate the outpost.
At 3am, hundreds of small green lights appeared in the dark. Special Forces, soldiers and policemen invaded the camp and surrounded the 150 Palestinians who had gathered to protest the eviction. Following an assault on the peaceful protesters and assembled journalists, all were taken by Israeli buses to Qalandia checkpoint; six were transferred to Ramallah hospital.
At 5am, the site was empty.
Organized by the Popular Struggle Coordination Committee, the action was a response to Netanyahu’s plan to build further illegal Israeli settlements on occupied Palestinian lands, specifically around Jerusalem and in the E1 category, which would cut off access to the holy city for Palestinians in the West Bank.