Israeli army removes activists from Bab al-Karameh

A large Israeli army unit demolished early Monday Bab al-Karameh, a makeshift village northwest of Jerusalem Palestinians and other activists had set up on Friday to prevent Israeli takeover of the Palestinian land, said witnesses. They said the army closed off the area and prevented anyone from reaching it and then proceeded with a bulldozer to demolish a mosque that was quickly built from brick and to remove the tents the activists had put up on the land, according to Nabil Hababeh, one of the activists. Residents of nearby Beit Iksa, on whose land Bab al-Karameh was built, and from other area villages brought blankets and food to the activists who decided to stay on the threatened land promising to rebuild it. The village and a similar one built a week earlier on threatened land east of Jerusalem and named Bab al-Shams and which was also removed by force by the Israeli army are part of a new Palestinian passive resistance strategy aimed at preventing Israel from seizing their land to build illegal settlements on it.