Israeli human-rights groups and Mahmoud Abbas, the president of
the Palestinian Authority, have condemned a decision by Israel to expel four
Palestinian politicians from East Jerusalem by the end of this week.
The Israeli government revoked their residency rights in
Jerusalem a few weeks ago, after claiming they were “in breach of trust” for
belonging to a “foreign parliament”, a reference to the Palestinian Legislative
Council.
All four men belong to Hamas and were arrested a few months after
taking part in the Palestinian national elections in January 2006. They remained
in jail until recently as “bargaining chips” for the release of an Israeli
soldier, Gilad Shalit, who is being held captive by Hamas.
Observers say Israel’s move reflects its anger at Hamas’s growing
hold on the political sympathies of Jerusalem’s 260,000 Palestinians and is
designed to further entrench a physical separation Israel has been imposing on
East Jerusalem and the adjacent West Bank.
Israel has not said where the three MPs and a former cabinet
minister will be expelled to. The loss of residency effectively leaves the
politicians stateless, in breach of international law, according to human-rights
lawyers.
Hassan Jabareen, the director of the Adalah legal centre for the
Arab minority in Israel, said a “very dangerous precedent” was being set. “It is
the first time Palestinians in East Jerusalem have had their residency revoked
for being ‘disloyal’ and this could be used to expel many other residents whose
politics Israel does not like.
“This is a draconian measure characteristic of dark and
totalitarian regimes,” he said.
The January 2006 vote for the Palestinian Legislative Council, in
which Hamas won a majority of seats against its Fatah rivals, was the first time
the Islamic party had participated in a national election.
Jerusalem politicians were allowed to stand only after the
international community insisted that Israel honour the terms of the Oslo
accords.
Unlike the occupied Palestinian territories of the West Bank and
Gaza, East Jerusalem was annexed to Israel following the 1967 war and its
Palestinian inhabitants were given the status of “permanent residents”. Israel
has violated international law by building large settlements throughout East
Jerusalem that are now home to 200,000 Jews.
After the 2006 vote, the government of Ehud Olmert responded to
Hamas’s success in East Jerusalem by initiating procedures to revoke the
residency of three MPs – Mohammed Abu Tir, Ahmed Attoun and Mohammed Totah – and
Khaled Abu Arafeh, who Hamas appointed as the PA’s minister for Jerusalem
affairs.
Before the revocations could take effect, however, Israel
arrested the men, as well as dozens of other Hamas legislators, in retaliation
for Sgt Shalit’s capture four years ago.
Since their release, all four politicians have had their Israeli
identity cards confiscated and been told they must leave the city within a
month.
Mr Abu Tir, 60, was supposed to leave on June 19, but has so far
evaded expulsion. “I will not willingly leave the place my family has lived for
500 years,” he said last week.
The deadline for the other three expires on Saturday.
Unusually, the plight of the Hamas politicians has won the
support of Mr Abbas, who also heads Fatah and has been seeking to overturn
Hamas’s rule in Gaza.
Calling the expulsions one of “the biggest obstacles yet on the
path to peace”, Mr Abbas has vowed to put pressure on the US to reverse Israel’s
decision.
During a meeting with three of the men last week, he said: “We
cannot stand idly by while people are expelled from their homeland, which we
consider a crime.” Mr Abbas is reported to fear that Israel is hoping to
establish a new precedent for expelling thousands of Palestinians from the
city.
Hatem Abdel Kader, Fatah’s minister for
Jerusalem affairs, was warned this month by the Shin Bet, Israel’s secret
police, that he would have his residency revoked if he continued his political
activities in the city.
Yigal Palmor, a spokesman for the Israeli foreign ministry, said
Israel was issuing “a very clear warning to Hamas and all those who promote
terror” that they would face a “backlash”.
Lawyers for the four Hamas politicians petitioned the Israeli
Supreme Court this month for an injunction on the expulsions until a hearing can
be held on the men’s residency rights. Last week, however, the court declined to
stop what it called “deportations”, saying it would issue a ruling at a later
date.
Mr Jabareen, whose Adalah organisation is advising the
politicians, said he was “astonished” by the court’s position, and that in all
previous expulsion cases an injunction had been issued before the expulsion took
place.
He added: “Under international law, an occupying power cannot
demand loyalty from the the people it occupies. Palestinians in East Jerusalem
are ‘protected persons’ in law and cannot be expelled.”
Israel has based its decision on the Entry into Israel Law of
1952, which governs the naturalisation process for non-Jews. It allows the
interior minister to revoke citizenship and residency in some cases.
“The purpose of this law is to oversee the entry into Israel of
foreigners,” said Mr Jabareen. “The Palestinians of East Jerusalem did not enter
Israel; Israel entered East Jerusalem by occupying it in 1967.”
The revocations of the politicians’ residency comes in the wake
of a rapid rise in the number of Palestinians who have been stripped of
Jerusalem residency on other grounds, usually because Israel claims the city is
no longer the “centre of their life” and typically because a resident has
studied or worked abroad.
In 2008, more than 4,500 Palestinians lost their Jerusalem
residency, interior ministry figures show. The number has been steadily rising
since 1995, when 91 Palestinians were stripped of their rights. According to
Israel, a total of 13,000 Palestinians have had their residency revoked since
1967.
The loss of residency is seen by the Palestinians as part of a
wider Israeli strategy to weaken their hold on East Jerusalem and its holy
sites.
Israel has built sections of its separation wall through
Palestinian neighbourhoods of Jerusalem, cutting off some 60,000 residents from
their city.
It has also shut down all Palestinian political institutions in
Jerusalem associated with the Palestinian national movements, and banned events
– including a literature festival last year – that it claims are financed with
PA money.
Last week police forced the closure of Hamas’ political office
near the Old City. Yuval Diskin, the head of the Shin Bet, had earlier accused
Hamas of trying to buy property in Jerusalem.
In early 2006, shortly before they were arrested, Mr Abu Tir and
Mr Abu Arafeh were revealed to have established a diplomatic channel with
several prominent Israeli rabbis to negotiate Sgt Shalit’s release and the terms
of a possible peace deal. The talks were effectively foiled by their arrests.
In a related move, Israeli officials have also been threatening
to revoke the citizenship of Palestinian leaders inside Israel, including Haneen
Zoubi, the Israeli MP who was onboard last month’s aid flotilla to Gaza that
Israeli commandos attacked, killing nine passengers.
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