Article 74 November 1993, Issue No.6
November 1993, Issue No.6 (5)
A Campaign Initiated by the AIC-Department for Residency & Family Reunification
During the 26 years of occupation, the Israeli authorities have carried out a policy of gradually separating East Jerusalem and its Palestinian residents from the surrounding West Bank: the closure of East Jerusalem for residents of the West Bank and Gaza Strip still continues after the signing of the “historical” agreement between Israel and the PLO, and Israeli laws and regulations defining who can become a Jerusalem resident has turned Palestinian residents of Jerusalem into a vanishing species.
Jerusalem residents are NOT INCLUDED in the November 1992 Agreement which grants six months renewable visas to spouses and minor children of Palestinian residents in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, if they entered the country before August 1993, according to which permanent residency will be granted to those covered by the previous agreement and conditions for future family reunifications will be somewhat improved.
We demand the rapid integration of Jerusalem as part of the agenda of the ongoing peace negotiations. Any postponement of the discussion of the issue of Jerusalem residents will widen the gap between the legal realities for Jerusalem and the future autonomous territories, and to the perpetuation, or even an increase, of the violations of Palestinian residency rights in Jerusalem.
Due to the fact that the ongoing peace negotiations have not yet led to a solution of the problem of married non-resident spouses of West Bank and Gaza residents who entered the country AFTER August 31, 1992, the Association of Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) decided to take their case to the High Court. ACRI demands that these persons should be issued six months renewable visit permits and be eligible to apply for family reunification without having to leave the country in order to avoid the separation of additional Palestinian families. As the State Attorney’s policy stands now, these non-resident spouses must go abroad before the resident spouse submits an application for family reunification
The Canadian representatives in the Refugee Working Group announced that a Canadian government is offering US $ 4 Mil. for the relocation of the approximately 4,000 residents of the refugee camp located in Egypt, just across the border to Rafah. Since the signing of the Israeli-Egyptian peace agreement in 1982, these people, originally Gaza residents from Rafah, have been waiting for repatriation and reunification with their relatives on the Israeli side of the border.
Israel has agreed to support the Canadian offer, but the timetable for the Canada Camp residents’ return has not yet been set.
Report from Refugee Working Group (Tunis, October 12-14, 1993)
Written by Badil-AICThe Palestinian team, headed by Elia Zureik and Dr. Salim Tamari/Ramallah, is a poorly staffed team functioning practically without budget and without legal advisors. Previous meetings with the Israeli team to the talks on refugees were conducted without results, mainly due to the rejectionist Israeli position.
The first meeting in the “post agreement era” gave rise to new hopes and expectations. However, no major breakthrough was achieved:
- the Israeli delegation reiterated its government’s policy regarding family reunification already
announced in August 1993 (see below)
- an earlier, informal Israeli offer to immediately grant 10,000 family reunifications was withdrawn.
Following the Israeli-Palestinian Agreement the Key Question Remains
Written by Badil-AICWho Will Hold The Key To The Borders?
A year and a half ago, at the time of the opening of the Madrid Conference and the first rounds of the Washington negotiations, we wrote in ARTICLE 74 that the content of the Palestinian self-rule in the Occupied Territories will ultimately depend on the answer of the question: “Who will hold the key to the bridges across the Jordan river”. In other words, who will have the power to decide about residency rights, including family reunification, in the Palestinian autonomy: the Israeli administration or the Palestinian administration? Autonomy without the right to decide on residency issues is not autonomy, but the continuation of occupation in a new disguise.
Réfugiés palestiniens et les déplacés internes (IDP)
Centre d’éducation sur la Nakba en Cours
Mobilisation et Intervention
