RAMALLAH, April 8 (JMCC) - Residents of Sheikh Jarrah inaugurated a playground Wednesday, naming it after an American killed in Gaza while blocking the path of an Israeli bulldozer.

The Rachel Corrie playground was opened next to the home of Rifka al-Kurd, a Palestinian resident of the Jerusalem neighborhood who was evicted last year by Israeli court order. 

This playground underscores the citizens' steadfastness against Israeli measures to uproot them, said Fateh representative in Jerusalem Hatem Abdel Qader, who attended the inauguration along with Jerusalem governor Adnan Husseini.

Residents had expected Israeli police to prevent the ceremony from taking place, but their fears turned out to be unwarranted.

Israeli authorities have recently taken to banning any event that includes the participation of Palestinian officials, resisting Palestinian efforts to maintain representation in the city.

Sheikh Jarrah, occupied by Israel with the rest of eastern Jerusalem in 1967, has become a center of clashes between Palestinians and Israeli police and settlers that have moved into the neighborhood. Some eight Palestinian homes are threatened with eviction by an Israeli settler company that claims ownership of the homes.