Article74 Magazine
Jerusalem ID Card Confiscations Throughout the summer, the Jerusalem Interior Ministry - apparently unhampered by the emerging protests - intensified its policy of ID card confiscations by introducing two major new measures: - Palestinian Jerusalemites holding a foreign passport in addition to the blue Israeli ID card, are forced to chose between them: Persons concerned, including people who have been holding foreign citizenship for years, are informed that they will be canceled from the Jerusalem population registry unless they relinquish their passport; sometimes their Jerusalem ID card is confiscated without prior notice when they approach the Ministry on a personal matter. Although the Ministry withdrew in some cases, i.e. well off and influential Jerusalemites holding of US passports, who were able to obtain the support of the US Consulate and other foreign representations, these protests have not succeeded in halting the new policy. It is currently applied mainly against Palestinian Jerusalemites, citizens of a foreign country and living abroad. The legal argument used by local lawyers and human rights organizations to counter the new measure is the same as in the case of Jerusalemites living outside the municipal boundaries for more than seven years: Although Regulation 11 of the Law of Entry to Israel (1952) specifies that persons who applied for foreign citizenship cease to be residents of Israel, this provision was not implemented in the past and any policy change without prior public announcement is unacceptable and contradicts the requirements of correct procedure. - Spouses of Jerusalemites with pending applications for family reunification are no longer issued entry permits to Jerusalem: This new policy, announced by the Office of the Legal Advisor/Beit El to Atty Lea Tsemel in writing, replaces past procedure, according to which such spouses were entitled to renewable three (sometimes six) month entry permits until the Jerusalem Interior Ministry would issue its decision on the family reunification application. While the old procedure had recognized that the handling period for applications at the Interior Ministry was far too long (up to two years and more) for a family to live separated, the new policy cynically disregards the basic right of Palestinian families to share a place of living: Alarmed at the steady increase in the number of cases of ID card confiscations during the summer, NGOs launched frantic efforts to put pressure on the Israeli Interior Ministry: the AIC initiated an emergency meeting between cooperative members of the Knesset and the Interior Minister; in the framework of the Jerusalem Lobby, local NGOs briefed Faisal Husseini, targeted local and foreign media, sent reports to several foreign representations and disseminated legal advise to the broad Palestinian public in and around Jerusalem. Despite some minor successes (reports by Israeli and foreign media, interventions by foreign representations in Jerusalem, regular coordination with selected Israeli parliamentarians) the level of response has remained disappointing. “I’ve been surprised by the ignorance of this issue, when it comes to the US public - and among Arabs here. I had the humiliating experience of going to an Arab-American reception during the Democratic Convention in Chicago and being rebuffed by several Arabs who wouldn’t sign a petition! I have also had church folk say they wouldn’t sign, ‘because we are only presenting one side of the issue’ ...” [Jennifer Bing Canar, AFSC-Chicago/Family Reunification Project] |
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