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The al-Kurd family protest tent before it was destroyed by the Israeli authorities.

Since the al-Kurd family was evacuated from their home in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in East Jerusalem last week, they have been living in a tent on privately-owned land, only some meters away from their own home. 

Although the al Kurd family has been residing in the protest tent with the explicit permission of the landowner, the Israeli police arrived daily to give them fines, which they refused to pay. 

An eye witness present today for the demolition told the Alternative Information Center (AIC) that around 11:00 – 11:30 am, the mother of the family, Fawzieh al-Kurd, and some friends were sitting outside the tent when Israeli police and soldiers came to demolish the tent.  

The eye witness, a Danish peace activist who was amongst those arrested, told the AIC that he was detained “apparently because I did not moved fast enough away from the ground. As I was sitting in the police car a short distance away from the area, I could see the soldiers and police  tearing  apart the tent”. 

The Danish activist, together with an activist from the UK, were accused of disturbing police work and were released around 1:30 p.m. 

A Palestinian and two international female activists were also detained, and for no reason according to the eyewitness. The female peace activists are accused of assaulting the police and are still in custody.   

After the protest tent was destroyed, the al-Kurd family was left with their few belongings.

Around 12:30 pm a bulldozer came to destroy parts of the fence surrounding the privately-owned land.

Members of the al-Kurd family and friends immediately began putting up a new tent, only a few meters from where the previous tent stood.