Article74 Magazine

 
A Solution for the “Forgotten” Village of Bir ‘Ona in Sight? 

On Thursday, 13 March 1997, elected representatives of the village Bir ‘Ona and their lawyer, Atty. Lea Tsemel met with Jerusalem Major Ehud Olmert in order to discuss the practical implications of the 1967 annexation of Bir ‘Ona by Israel. The village of Bir ‘Ona, numbering approximately 50 families, is located on the slopes of Gilo settlement, on the border on the West Bank town Beit Jala. When Israel, in 1967, drew the borders of the occupied Palestinian lands to be annexed to Jerusalem, Bir ‘Ona was included on the Israeli side. However, it seems that for years the Israeli Ministry of Interior and the Jerusalem Municipality did not know of the existence of the village Bir ‘Ona, and its residents were not recognized as “residents of Israel”. 
The residents discovered only in the mid-1980s, after a wave of housing construction began in the village and from the house demolition orders they received, that they were considered residents of Israel. The residents of Bir ‘Ona organized for the de-facto recognition of their status and the rights deriving from it, i.e. blue Israel-issued ID cards, a zoning plan for their neighborhood, municipal services, etc. Today, the village is located between the two tunnels and underneath the bridge of the new Jerusalem-Hebron bypass road (Road Number 60). Another bypass road is planned to cut directly through the residential area. 

In the meeting with Major Olmert, the Mayor’s Advisor on Neighborhood Affairs, and the Legal Advisor to the Municipality, Bir ‘Ona residents explained their absurd situation. Although they are residents of Jerusalem, they cannot enter Jerusalem unless they obtain Jerusalem entry permits; many of them have been fined for “illegal presence in Jerusalem” by soldiers who stopped them in the street in front of their homes. Mayor Olmert stated that he recognized the urban rights of the residents and the responsibility of the municipality for their well-being. He promised that a zoning plan for Bir ‘Ona - a prerequisite for municipality building permits - would be approved as soon as possible (see also ARTICLE 74/17). 
Bir ‘Ona residents’ request for Jerusalem ID cards has not yet been answered. Atty. Lea Tsemel has approached the Interior Ministry on behalf of the families, and filed 20 petitions in the framework of legal aid services provided by the Alternative Information Center. 

 
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