Ma'an News Agency
January 25, 2013 - 1:00am
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=559133


Dozens of Palestinian activists entered a demolished protest village in northwest Jerusalem on Friday, starting to rebuild the al-Karamah (Dignity) encampment.

The tent village was established last Friday to protest Israel's land confiscation and settlement building in the area of Beit Iksa.

On Monday, Israeli troops demolished all the tents and evacuated all the activists in the camp.

Activists entered the village on Friday and performed the weekly prayer, before re-erecting tents and planting olive trees, witnesses said.

Beit Iksa, surrounded by Israeli settlements, is set to be entirely encircled by Israel's separation wall, cutting it off from Jerusalem.

When completed, the wall will annex 96 percent of Beit Iksa's land, according to a study by the Applied Research Institute - Jerusalem.

The Al-Karamah village was the second protest village set up, and torn down, this month.

Earlier, activists established the Bab al-Shams village near East Jerusalem, in a protest against Israel's plans to build the "E1" settlement on the land, severing the West Bank from Jerusalem.




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