On 19 August 1997, fifty Palestinian families settled in Siwanne neighborhood in East Jerusalem, to protest the threat of losing their Jerusalem resident status. All of the families are Jerusalem residents who had to move outside of the Jerusalem municipal boundaries due to the lack of housing for Arabs in the city. Once they had moved they discovered that the Ministry of Interior plans to take away their ID cards, claiming that Palestinian residence is determined by the “center of life test”. The camp was set up on private Waqf  land. According to an understanding with the Israeli police, the protesters can stay on the land as long as public order is kept.  
The initiative is supported by a coalition of organizations, including the Orient House and members of the Palestinian Legislative Council. The demonstrators declared that they were chased out of Jerusalem by the housing policies of the Israeli municipality and government. When they realized that the result was the possible confiscation of their Jerusalem ID cards, they decided to return to the city. Thus they would not evacuate the tent site until a solution for both housing and ID card problems was in sight.  

200 Victims of ID Card Confiscation Policy Protest in front of Jerusalem Interior Ministry   

Approximately 200 Palestinians, whose ID cards had been confiscated, and human rights activists gathered on 15 July, in front of the Israeli Interior Ministry in East Jerusalem to protest the Ministry’s policy of ID card confiscation. The demonstration was organized by the Lobby for Palestinian Women’s Rights in Jerusalem; the demonstrators were supported by Faisal Husseini (PLO portfolio on Jerusalem), Hashem Zughayer (PLC Jerusalem Committee), Ziad Abu Zayad (PLC), and Member of Knesset Azmi Bishara.  
The protesters demanded the immediate stop of ID card confiscations and underlined the right of the native Palestinian population to live in their capital Jerusalem. The demonstration is part of a series of protest activities aimed at stepping up public pressure on the Israeli government to halt its policy of ethnic cleansing in Jerusalem.