Government orders evacuation of Palestinian camp

Makeshift protest village near Jerusalem is second of its kind to pop up this month

By Yoel Goldman 21 January 2013, 2:43 am Edit

Palestinian protestors gather next to tents erected near the West Bank village of Beit Iksa, between Ramallah and Jerusalem, on Sunday (photo credit: Issam Rimawi/Flash90)

The Civil Administration in the West Bank issued an evacuation order late Sunday for a Palestinian protest camp set up over the weekend near the village of Beit Iksa, northwest of Jerusalem.

The camp is currently comprised of four tents and a makeshift structure used for prayer, according to Israel Radio. Palestinian activists said in a statement on Friday that they were “securing land from Israel.”

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Earlier in January, a similar Palestinian camp was erected in the controversial E1 corridor, which connects East Jerusalem and the West Bank.

Israeli security forces dismantled that camp, dubbed Bab a-Shams, on Wednesday, following a ruling by the High Court of Justice that it constituted a national security threat.

With both camps, Palestinian activists appear to be employing tactics used by Jewish settlers, who set up outposts in the West Bank hoping to take ownership of the land by changing facts on the ground.

The Civil Administration is the Israeli governing body that functions in the West Bank.

Yifa Yaakov contributed to this report.