Awad Salaymeh, a Palestinian rights activist from occupied Jerusalem, said today he was threatened with expulsion from his home city by the Israeli occupation authorities in the event he continued advocating for the issue of Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood.
Salaymeh told reporters he was summoned by the Israeli intelligence for questioning at the so-called Russian Compound where he was threatened of expulsion by Israeli interrogators in the event he continued “incitement at Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood”.
He said the Israeli threat will not dishearten his support for native Palestinian families facing a threat of forceful Israeli eviction from their homes in the occupied Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah.
Salaymeh added that other activists and he will continue to be present in Sheikh Jarrah until far-right Israeli MK Itamar Ben-Gvir removes his makeshift office, which he recently set up in the vicinity of the Palestinian family of Salem’s home in the neighborhood.
The neighborhood has been under tight Israeli entry measures ever since Ben-Gvir set up his makeshift office in the neighborhood, in what Palestinians see as a provocative step aimed at going ahead with Israeli expulsion plans targeting dozens of indigenous families in the neighborhood.
Around 300 Palestinians, all of whom face the prospect of being evicted from their homes by Israeli authorities, live in the neighborhood.
Occupied by Israel in 1967, Sheikh Jarrah has been a significant flashpoint since May 2021, after Israel tried to expel Palestinian families from the area to make way for Israeli settlers.
This prompted widespread protests across the occupied West Bank and the Palestinian community inside Israel, as well as a large-scale Israeli military aggression on the besieged Gaza Strip.
Currently, there are more than 200,000 settlers living in East Jerusalem, alongside about 300,000 native Palestinian residents.
Source: Palestinian News & Info Agency (WAFA)