Riots have erupted in the Silwan neighborhood of East Jerusalem, on Wednesday, following the killing of a Palestinian man by an Israeli private security guard.Samer Sarhan, 32 years old, was killed following an incident during which the Israeli police claim that the guard’s car was blocked in, and came under attack from a group of stone-throwing youth.
This, however, contradicts the claims of residents of the neighborhood, who stated that the two men were on their way to work, and were confronted by the guard.
According to Israel’s Channel 2 news, the guard is employed by a security company hired to work in the Israeli settlement in the occupied east Jerusalem.
Sarhan, left behind a wife and five children, the oldest is 11 and the youngest is 3 years old.
Silwan is currently the site of dispute due to planned house demolition of Palestinian homes, and the retrospective legalization of settler’s homes.
Currently, 110 Palestinian homes are scheduled to be demolished to make way for the “City of David” excavations. The excavations, sanctioned by the Israeli controlled Jerusalem Municipality and Israel Antiquities Authority, will lead to an archeological park, have caused streets and a local girls school to suffer from patches of collapse in the Palestinian neighborhood, due to subsidence.
These talks come during renewed peace talks between the Palestinians and Israelis, where the status of occupied East Jerusalem is of primary concern.
