Stop the Quiet Deportation in East Jerusalem
Date: Wed, 26 Mar 1997 17:47:49 +0300 (EET DST)
From: "B'Tselem" BTSELEM@actcom.co.il
Dear Friend,
I am writing on behalf of two Israeli human rights organizations, B'Tselem
and Hamoked, to seek your assistance in a public campaign we are conducting
against what we call "the quiet deportation" of Palestinians from East
Jerusalem.
Israeli residency policies have caused the displacement of thousands
of Palestinian families from East Jerusalem and threaten thousands more.
A description of these policies is included in the attached document.
A more detailed report on the subject is currently being prepared, and
will be available at the beginning of next month.
The forced eviction of Palestinians from East Jerusalem is clearly in
breach of international human rights and humanitarian law. Beyond this,
however, is the acute human suffering of people who have moved out of
East Jerusalem - temporarily, they thought - for a variety of reasons
(the following are just some examples):
- Study or work abroad
- The acute housing shortage for Palestinians in Jerusalem, a
result of deliberate Israeli policies
- The refusal by Israeli authorities to allow a "non-Jerusalemite"
spouse to dwell in the city
- Normal population movement from the heart of a city to its suburbs.
People belonging to any of these categories are at the risk of loosing
their right to "residency" in Jerusalem. This means that they may not
enter their home town, let alone work in it, unless by special permit,
and that they are no longer entitled to social benefits such as national
insurance, child benefits, pension and health insurance.
It should be stressed that these policies affect a Palestinian moving
50 yards north of the municipal boundaries, but not a Jewish Jerusalemite
moving to West Bank settlements in the vicinity. Such a person suffers
no loss of freedom of movement, residency rights or social benefits.
What is frustrating to us as human rights activists is that these grossly
unjust and inhumane policies, which have already affected thousands
of Palestinians, and may affect tens of thousands more, are carried
out discreetly, through invisible, bureaucratic procedures backed by
Israeli laws and court decisions. There are no trucks, no weeping women
and children dragged by brutal soldiers, no physical violence - in other
words, little for the media to "cover." But the actual effect resembles
what the most extremist political factions in Israel have advocated:
large-scale displacement of Palestinians which threatens to permanently
alter the demographic character of Jerusalem. We believe that for these
policies to be halted, public opinion and decision makers, both in Israel
and internationally, must be made aware of them and the damage they
cause. We urge you to assist us in our campaign.
Please fill out the bottom of this form indicating how you could help
and return it to us.
Thank you in advance for your assistance,
Sincerely,
Yuval Ginbar - Campaign Coordinator for B'Tselem and Hamoked
Yes! I want to participate in the campaign against the quiet deportation
of Palestinians from East Jerusalem. Here's what I can do (check all
that apply):
[ ] Provide names and addresses (fax, e-mail etc.) of persons, organizations
etc. who may be of assistance
[ ] Organize events in my community, e.g. forums, letter-writing, petitions
[ ] Disseminate material to relevant persons and/or organizations:
- please send ___ copies of report by postal mail
- please send ___ copies of brochure by postal mail
- please send material by e-mail
[ ] Distribute information\contact the media in my country (please coordinate
timing with us; send us copies of whatever is published or broadcast)
[ ] Lobby decision makers in my country (members of Parliament, government
etc.)
[ ] Contribute money for the campaign:
In the US and Canada, tax-exempt contribution to B'Tselem-Hamoked
Residency Campaign may be made through the New Israel Fund. Contributions
should be marked as donor-advised to the B'Tselem-HaMoked Residency
Campaign and sent to NIF, P.O. Box 91588 Washington D.C. 20090-1588.
Checks labeled "Jerusalem Campaign" can also be sent to either Hamoked
or B'Tselem at the address below.
[ ] Other assistance/advice:
Name:
Postal Address:
Tel:
Fax:
e-mail:
B'Tselem is an Israeli independent, non-governmental organization
established in 1989 to monitor human rights violations in the Occupied
Territories. B'Tselem publishes reports, conducts advocacy campaigns,
engages in public education and serves as a resource center.
B'TSELEM: The Israeli Information Center for
Human Rights in the Occupied Territories
43 Emek Refaim St.
Jerusalem 93141
Tel. 972-2-561-7271
Fax. 972-2-561-0756
e-mail: btselem@actcom.co.il
Web site: http://www.btselem.org
HaMoked: Center for the Defence of the Individual (formerly the
Hotline) provides individual assistance to Palestinian victims of a
wide variety of human rights violations and bureaucratic harassment.
Founded in 1988 by a group of Arab and Jewish Israeli volunteers, HaMoked
has assisted over 13,000 Palestinians, and also advocates for policy
changes.
HAMOKED: Center for the Defence
of the Individual Abu Obeidah
4 East Jerusalem
Tel. 972-2-627-1698
Fax: 972-2-627-6317
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
THE QUIET DEPORTATION: Israeli Residency Policy in East Jerusalem
The goal of Israeli residency policy in East Jerusalem is to reduce
the number of Palestinians living in the city, and to create a demographic
and geographic reality that will preempt any future effort to challenge
Israeli sovereignty in East Jerusalem.
Some 170,000 Palestinians holding Israeli identity cards reside in East
Jerusalem. For the past two years, Israel's Interior Ministry has been
revoking the residency rights of Palestinians in East Jerusalem who
at some stage of their lives lived outside the municipal borders. Consequently,
numerous Palestinians have been required to leave their homes and families
and move to areas outside the Green Line, the demarcation line of Israel
at the outset of the Six-Day War. It is estimated that some 120,000
Palestinians (70% of the Palestinian population of the city) may lose
their right to live in Jerusalem because of this new Israeli policy.
Following the Six-Day War, in contravention of international law, Israel
annexed East Jerusalem, an area of 70 km2 in East Jerusalem, and applied
Israeli law in the annexed territory. Immediately after the war, Israel
conducted a census in East Jerusalem and granted the status of permanent
resident to everyone present in East Jerusalem at the time of the census
who resided there. Israel also declared that residents of East Jerusalem
could receive Israeli citizenship upon request, but for political reasons,
most East Jerusalem Palestinians did not request citizenship.
Israel's Supreme Court held that the Entry into Israel Law applies in
determining the status of Palestinian residents in East Jerusalem, and
that the identity card issued to them is comparable to the permit to
permanently reside in Israel granted under that law. The Court also
held that when a permanent resident settles outside Israel, the permanent
residency status expires. "Expiration" of the permit, contrary to revocation,
makes the individual subject to loss of residency without explanation
and without any procedure that would enable him or her to appeal.
The law stipulates that a person is considered to have settled outside
Israel if he or she remained abroad for more than seven years, received
a permit to permanently reside in another State, or became a citizen
of that State. The Supreme Court held that residency may also be revoked
if other facts indicate that the individual settled outside of Israel
even where the period of residency outside Israel was less than seven
years.
By applying the Entry into Israel Law to residents of East Jerusalem,
Israel relates to them as immigrants, even though the families involved
have lived in the area for scores of years, and it was Israel who entered
the area, and not vice versa.
The legal status, described above, reflects only a small part of the
picture. The Interior Ministry uses unwritten criteria and unclear procedures
in revoking residency status. Human rights organizations and attorneys
have failed in their attempts to determine the applicable criteria and
procedures. The Ministry refuses to publish its criteria for issuing
or revoking residency permits, or data regarding the number of persons
whose residency has been revoked.
Not only Palestinians who have moved abroad are threatened by this policy.
Over the years, many Palestinians have moved to neighborhoods and villages
outside the Jerusalem municipality. This migration is the result of
the following Israeli policies designed to entrench Israeli sovereignty
in East Jerusalem:
- Israel has greatly restricted Palestinians in residential building,
causing overcrowding due to the serious housing shortage.
- Prior to 1994, Israel rejected requests for family unification
submitted by Jerusalem Palestinian women on behalf of their spouses
who are not Jerusalemites. The Israeli policy compelled these women
to leave the city in order to be with their husbands.
- East Jerusalem Palestinians living outside the city borders
customarily went to the Interior Ministry's office in Jerusalem
to renew their exit permits, thereby restarting the seven-year counting
period. The Interior Ministry's policy had been that only a continuous
seven-year stay outside of Jerusalem would result in the loss of
the right of residency. In the past two years, however, Israel changed
its policy retroactively, and those who have not lived within the
Jerusalem Municipality continuously lose their right to live in
the city, even if they lived outside the city for less than seven
years and even if they did not become permanent residents or citizens
of another country.
- Persons who require the services of the Interior Ministry in
a variety of matters, such as replacing an identity card, registering
a child, or receiving an identity card for the first time at age
16, are required to provide documentary proof that they live in
Jerusalem. Those unable to provide suitable documentation lose their
right to live in Jerusalem. This requirement is excessive and unduly
severe, and serves as an additional bureaucratic tool to reduce
the number of Palestinians holding Israeli identity cards. The requirement
of proving residency in Jerusalem applies both to Palestinians living
in the United States and to those living in A-Ram, which lies only
a few kilometers from Jerusalem's municipal borders.
Since the residency status "automatically expires," denial of residency
status occurs without a hearing, without explanation, without any notice
of the right to appeal, and without being informed that the policy had
changed. The authorities have also taken Jerusalem residency status
from East Jerusalem Palestinians who moved to the Jerusalem suburbs
(which are within the West Bank).
Loss of Jerusalem residency status has significant implications. Residents
of East Jerusalem are not subject to the military government, as are
residents of the rest of the Occupied Territories. Those without Jerusalem
residency status are not allowed to enter freely and work in Israel,
and require special permits. Loss of residency also results in the immediate
cessation of national insurance benefits and health insurance through
Israeli sick funds, as well as access to education and other benefits.
The Israeli Supreme Court has approved the policies of the Interior
Ministry. Therefore, no domestic remedies are available to the victims
of these policies.
Since the Interior Ministry does not publish its criteria for revoking
residency status, East Jerusalem's Palestinians are uncertain about
their status. Consequently, many do not utilize the services of the
Interior Ministry, fearing that their residency in Jerusalem will be
questioned and that they will be found not to be entitled to an Israeli
identity card.
Within the next six months, the Interior Ministry intends to replace
the identity cards of all Israeli citizens and residents. Palestinian
residents of East Jerusalem will then have to go to the Interior Ministry,
where the clerks will check whether they are entitled to an Israeli
identity card. According to estimates, some 70% of Jerusalem's Palestinian
residents are liable to lose their residency status. This would have
severe consequences in terms of this populations ability to enjoy civil
rights as well as economic and social benefits. In addition, Israeli
residency policies are liable to dramatically change the character of
the city.
THE CAMPAIGN FOR RADICAL TRUTH IN HISTORY
On the web at: http://www.hoffman-info.com
|