Haaretz 09:41 24/06/2007
By Shahar Ilan , Haaretz Correspondent
The number of East Jerusalem residents whose permanent residency status has been revoked has surged by more than six times in one year, according to Interior Ministry data made available to the human rights group B'Tselem. The ministry attributes this in part to "growing efficiency." In 2005 the number of residencies revoked stood at 222, while by 2006 the number rose to 1,363. This is the highest number of revoked permanent residency permits since the policy was introduced in 1995. Permanent status grants East Jerusalem residents most of the privileges enjoyed by Israeli citizens. The status can be revoked for taking up residence in the Palestinian Authority or abroad.
The policy of mass revocations has been in place for more than a decade. It began in 1995, toward the end of Eli Suissa's tenure as director of the Jerusalem District at the Interior Ministry. It heightened when he was appointed interior minister in 1996, when his party, Shas, joined the coalition government of Benjamin Netanyahu. Suissa was instrumental in making it harder for East Jerusalem residents to acquire construction permits, causing a serious housing shortage among Arabs in the city. This forced many Jerusalem Arabs to seek housing elsewhere, losing their permanent residency status. The peak years of this policy were 1996 (739 permits revoked), 1997 (1,067 permits) and 1998 (788 permits). When Natan Sharansky was interior minister from 1999 to 2000, the number of revoked residence permits dropped, and has leveled at 200 to 300 per year. The Interior Ministry has based its policy of revoking permanent status on a Supreme Court ruling in 1988 by its former president, Justice Aharon Barak. In the case of Palestinian-American psychologist Mubarak Awad, Barak set the precedent on the argument that permanent status - unlike naturalization - "is an expression of the reality of a permanent stay." Barak also noted that when that reality of permanent residence is no longer applicable, the status "cancels itself." In response to a request by B'Tselem, Shalom Benamo, who is in charge of releasing information to the public at the Interior Ministry, said that "most of the [cases] between 2005 and 2006 involved people who immigrated abroad and acquired foreign citizenship." The rest of the cases are the result of individuals living outside Jerusalem for seven years, Benamo said. He also noted that in 2000, in a document that came to be known as "The Sharansky Declaration," any person who has maintained "links" to the city is recognized as retaining permanent status. A single visit to Israel every three years is considered sufficient to maintain links to the city, and therefore permanent residency status. In a B'Tselem question regarding a possible change in the policy and interpretation of the Sharansky Declaration, Benamo said that "there is no fundamental change in the Interior Ministry's policy on this issue. The rise in the number of revocations stems from growing efficiency at the office, and better supervision of borders." B'Tselem demands that the policy of revoking residency status cease, arguing that it breaches international law
dimanche 24 juin 2007
dimanche 10 juin 2007
Haredi court places curse on upcoming Jerusalem Gay Pride parade
Haaretz 23:26 10/06/2007
By Yair Ettinger, Haaretz Correspondent
The ultra-Orthodox rabbinical court, Haredi Badatz, placed a "curse" Sunday on the participants in the upcoming Gay Pride parade scheduled to take place next week in Jerusalem. The court also cursed the police officers who will be maintaining order during the parade. Badatz rabbis plastered warning posters on Jerusalem city walls saying "All those involved in the matter, those of impure souls and those helping them and guarding them, they will feel in their souls a curse, a bad spirit will come over them and haunt them, they will never be cleansed of their sins, from the judgment of God, in their bodies, their souls and their finances."
The ultra-Orthodox leaders plan to stage a "large demonstration which will shake the foundations for the sake of Jerusalem's holiness." The demonstration will likely take place next week, but the warning posters disseminated Sunday afternoon are perceived by the ultra-Orthodox community as a green light to begin protests even sooner. The rabbis decided to try to bring about the cancellation of the parade through protest after their "diplomatic efforts" to negotiate the cancellation with the Jerusalem police failed. The leader of the Haredi community, Rabbi Izhak Tuvia Weiss told the police that he was opposed to mass demonstrations, and asked senior police officials to rescind the authorization it had given to the gay and lesbian community to hold its Gay Pride parade in the streets of Jerusalem. According to some Haredi officials, Rabbi Weiss was disappointed by the meeting he had last week at his home with the chief of the Jerusalem district police force, Major General Aharon Franco, who refused to cancel the parade. In the wake of his diplomatic failure, Rabbi Weiss agreed to join the more militant members of the community in supporting the mass demonstration against the parade.
By Yair Ettinger, Haaretz Correspondent
The ultra-Orthodox rabbinical court, Haredi Badatz, placed a "curse" Sunday on the participants in the upcoming Gay Pride parade scheduled to take place next week in Jerusalem. The court also cursed the police officers who will be maintaining order during the parade. Badatz rabbis plastered warning posters on Jerusalem city walls saying "All those involved in the matter, those of impure souls and those helping them and guarding them, they will feel in their souls a curse, a bad spirit will come over them and haunt them, they will never be cleansed of their sins, from the judgment of God, in their bodies, their souls and their finances."
The ultra-Orthodox leaders plan to stage a "large demonstration which will shake the foundations for the sake of Jerusalem's holiness." The demonstration will likely take place next week, but the warning posters disseminated Sunday afternoon are perceived by the ultra-Orthodox community as a green light to begin protests even sooner. The rabbis decided to try to bring about the cancellation of the parade through protest after their "diplomatic efforts" to negotiate the cancellation with the Jerusalem police failed. The leader of the Haredi community, Rabbi Izhak Tuvia Weiss told the police that he was opposed to mass demonstrations, and asked senior police officials to rescind the authorization it had given to the gay and lesbian community to hold its Gay Pride parade in the streets of Jerusalem. According to some Haredi officials, Rabbi Weiss was disappointed by the meeting he had last week at his home with the chief of the Jerusalem district police force, Major General Aharon Franco, who refused to cancel the parade. In the wake of his diplomatic failure, Rabbi Weiss agreed to join the more militant members of the community in supporting the mass demonstration against the parade.
mardi 5 juin 2007
25% of illegal W. Bank Jewish housing is on Arab-owned land
Haaretz 07:23 05/06/2007
By Uri Blau
At least 25 percent of the structures built by Israelis in the West Bank's Area C (full Israeli control) were built on private Arab-owned land, an internal report by the Civil Administration has found. According to the report, only 0.5 percent of the illegal structures were constructed on land registered to Jewish owners. The data also indicate that Israel is practicing a discriminatory policy: It is more lenient on illegal construction by Jews than by Palestinians.
Although the Jewish population in the area is four times bigger than the Arab population, the authorities have demolished triple the number of Palestinian structures compared to Jewish structures. The data, published here for the first time, appear in a comprehensive report prepared by the Civil Administration, a government body entrusted with administering all nonmilitary issues in the territories. The report, compiled late last year, determines that approximately one-third (900 structures) of illegal buildings in the territories were constructed within existing settlements. The veteran settlement of Ofra, for example, has 179 illegal buildings out of 600 homes. Most of these illegal structures were built on privately-owned Palestinian lands registered to West Bank residents. The administration has located 2,764 illegal structures, of which more than 650 were built on private-owned Palestinian lands. Another 900 were built on territory whose legal status has not yet been determined. Some 1,200 were built on land owned by the state. Only 15 were built on land registered to Jewish owners. The Civil Administration is responsible for locating illegal construction, issuing demolition orders and carrying them out. It has 270,000 settlers under its jurisdiction, as well as 70,000 Palestinians. The data reveal that from 1997 to 2006, the administration located twice as many illegal Palestinian structures - approximately 6,000 - as Jewish ones. Of these, approximately 2,000 buildings were demolished - 1,500 by the administration, and the rest by the Palestinians themselves at the administration's orders. The number of Jewish structures demolished by the administration totaled 150, with another 500 demolished by the settlers themselves. Dror Etkes, who coordinates the Peace Now movement's Settlement Watch project, reacted to the data by accusing the government of "criminally employing its agencies in order to minimize the number of Palestinians residing in Area C and push the Palestinian population into enclaves so as to allow Israel to maintain its control over most of the West Bank." The Civil Administration's spokesman, Zidki Maman, responded that "the number of structures that have been demolished reflect the number of structures that have been located." The Civil Administration was formed in 1981 "to manage the local population's civil affairs for its welfare." It was set up to free the army from attending to the needs of Palestinian residents of the territories, though its actions are subject to the approval of the Israel Defense Forces. Essentially, it is supposed to play the role of the Interior Ministry in the territories, and among other tasks, it is responsible for issuing entry permits into Israel. However, civil rights activists have long argued that the administration was more concerned with promoting the government's interests than with the welfare of the population under its jurisdiction.
By Uri Blau
At least 25 percent of the structures built by Israelis in the West Bank's Area C (full Israeli control) were built on private Arab-owned land, an internal report by the Civil Administration has found. According to the report, only 0.5 percent of the illegal structures were constructed on land registered to Jewish owners. The data also indicate that Israel is practicing a discriminatory policy: It is more lenient on illegal construction by Jews than by Palestinians.
Although the Jewish population in the area is four times bigger than the Arab population, the authorities have demolished triple the number of Palestinian structures compared to Jewish structures. The data, published here for the first time, appear in a comprehensive report prepared by the Civil Administration, a government body entrusted with administering all nonmilitary issues in the territories. The report, compiled late last year, determines that approximately one-third (900 structures) of illegal buildings in the territories were constructed within existing settlements. The veteran settlement of Ofra, for example, has 179 illegal buildings out of 600 homes. Most of these illegal structures were built on privately-owned Palestinian lands registered to West Bank residents. The administration has located 2,764 illegal structures, of which more than 650 were built on private-owned Palestinian lands. Another 900 were built on territory whose legal status has not yet been determined. Some 1,200 were built on land owned by the state. Only 15 were built on land registered to Jewish owners. The Civil Administration is responsible for locating illegal construction, issuing demolition orders and carrying them out. It has 270,000 settlers under its jurisdiction, as well as 70,000 Palestinians. The data reveal that from 1997 to 2006, the administration located twice as many illegal Palestinian structures - approximately 6,000 - as Jewish ones. Of these, approximately 2,000 buildings were demolished - 1,500 by the administration, and the rest by the Palestinians themselves at the administration's orders. The number of Jewish structures demolished by the administration totaled 150, with another 500 demolished by the settlers themselves. Dror Etkes, who coordinates the Peace Now movement's Settlement Watch project, reacted to the data by accusing the government of "criminally employing its agencies in order to minimize the number of Palestinians residing in Area C and push the Palestinian population into enclaves so as to allow Israel to maintain its control over most of the West Bank." The Civil Administration's spokesman, Zidki Maman, responded that "the number of structures that have been demolished reflect the number of structures that have been located." The Civil Administration was formed in 1981 "to manage the local population's civil affairs for its welfare." It was set up to free the army from attending to the needs of Palestinian residents of the territories, though its actions are subject to the approval of the Israel Defense Forces. Essentially, it is supposed to play the role of the Interior Ministry in the territories, and among other tasks, it is responsible for issuing entry permits into Israel. However, civil rights activists have long argued that the administration was more concerned with promoting the government's interests than with the welfare of the population under its jurisdiction.
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