Hundreds Israeli left activists and Palestinian residents protested in the Sheikh Jarrah Arab neighborhood of east Jerusalem on Friday (March 26, 2010). The demonstrators shouted: “There is nothing holy in an occupied city”, and protested against the entrance of Jewish residents to houses in the Arab neighborhood, as well as against the construction permit granted to Shepherd Hotel this week, which has added fuel to the crisis between Israel and the United States. 

Leading Communist Party of Israel member, MK Dov Khenin (Hadash – Democratic Front for Peace and Equality) who was present at the demonstration, told: “The event this week is especially important – it is not just against the expulsion of the Palestinian families from the neighborhood, but is also against steps to build a settlement that started at the lower part of the neighborhood, and this week expanded to the Shepherd Hotel in the upper part”.

According to Khenin, “This is not a technical authorization or a clerical decision. This is a government move to create an Israeli settlement in the heart of a Palestinian neighborhood in east Jerusalem. This is a dangerous move,  that works against the possibility of two capitals in Jerusalem – and without this principle we cannot reach a peace agreement.”

MK Khenin, former Knesset Speaker Avraham Burg, and well-know author David Grossman, marched from the compound, where they protest every week, to the hotel. Dozens of demonstrators gathered at the Shepherd Hotel.