JERUSALEM, Feb. 19 (UPI) -- British author Ian McEwan, visiting Israel to receive a literary prize, joined a protest against a Jewish settlement in East Jerusalem, protesters said.
McEwan attended the rally in Sheik Jarrah Friday along with Israeli writer David Grossman and hundreds of others, Ynetnews reported. He said joining the weekly demonstration was a "great honor."
McEwan, who was in Israel to accept the Jerusalem Prize, told Ynetnews he hoped he would not need to attend such protests in the future.
"Ian McEwan today joined a long list of figures -- including former President Jimmy Carter, writer Mario Vargas Llosa and Nobel Laureate Daniel Kahanman -- who honored the protesters with their presence," said Avner Inbar, a member of the Sheik Jarrah solidarity movement.
"The real heroes of the struggle against East Jerusalem settlement are the hundreds of Israelis and Palestinians who attend the protests every week and fight shoulder to shoulder against the robbery."
Settlers say they are evicting Arabs illegally living in property that was Jewish before the 1948 war. The evictions have been condemned by the United States and the United Nations.
