Article 74 September 1994, Issue No.10
September 1994, Issue No.10 (5)
According to the timetable set by the DOP, Israel should have already handed its civil administration offices over to the PNA. However, “there are no sacred dates” for the Rabin government, and the civil administrations are not maintaining a low profile, but rather continue to procedure new regulations which guarantee that Palestinian families will remain separated in the future.
On August 9, 1994, the AIC’s lawyer Atty Lea Tsemel was informed by the State Attorney that non-resident spouses of West Bank residents who are not covered by previous agreements, would no longer be issued visit permits, because “there is a strong reason to suspect that they will not leave the country when their visit permits expire”. Such spouses will be allowed to enter only after they are granted family reunification. Since family reunification procedures still require one year or more, it is unacceptable to oblige families remain apart during this period.
Violations of Palestinian Residency Rights in Jerusalem Continue (An AIC Report from the Field)
Written by Badil-AICDuring the period between July 17 and September 11, 1994, the AIC team for Palestinian Residency & Family Reunification carried out a series of field-days in East Jerusalem in order to offer concrete assistance to the local population in these crucial times of ongoing military closure, political uncertainty, and massive Israeli intervention for the “Israelization” of the city. Moreover, the information gathered from the direct encounter with peoples’ problems and concerns added an important dimension to current human rights efforts in Jerusalem. It is important to note here that this program dealt with the problems of Jerusalemites still living IN the city; we did not meet those Jerusalemites who currently reside outside the municipal boundaries, and therefore their specific problems are not represented in the below analysis of data.
ACRI vs. Jerusalem Interior Ministry - Stop Gender Discrimination in Family Reunification for Jerusalemites:
Written by Badil-AICIn June 1994, the Ministry informed that from now on, female Palestinian residents of Jerusalem are eligible to apply for family reunification for their non-resident husbands. Their applications will be handled according to the same procedures as those submitted by male Jerusalemites. If the wife can prove actual residence in the city, and there are no “security charges” against her husband, she will be granted family reunification.
While on the one hand, this new policy is a positive step, it also represents a further step towards the separation of Jerusalem from the surrounding West Bank: human rights organizations will have to develop new strategies in order to prevent tens of thousands of Palestinian Jerusalemites who reside outside the city boundaries (and therefore cannot document residence in Jerusalem) from being deprived of their right to live united with their families in Jerusalem in the future.
Where is the Voice of Palestinian Jerusalem?
Article V of the DOP states that “permanent status negotiations will commence as soon as possible, but not later than the beginning of the third year of the interim period ... these negotiations shall cover remaining issues, including: Jerusalem, refugees, settlements, security arrangements, borders, ...” The Israeli government pretends that the words “as soon as possible” do not appear. It has repeatedly asserted that even the raising of the Jerusalem issue by the Palestinians is a blatant breach of the agreement. It has threatened sanctions against Palestinian national institutions which take action to protect Palestinian rights in Jerusalem, and has refused to discuss even basic issues of human rights in the city. On the other hand, Israel has interpreted Article V as a carte blanche to continue its settlement activities, house demolitions, and other human rights violations in the city.
The Situation of Palestinian Residency Rights in the Palestinian Administered Gaza Strip - A First Evaluation
In late July 1994, the AIC project team for Palestinian Residency Rights and Family Reunification undertook a first fact-finding mission to the Gaza Strip. Less than three months after the take-over by the Palestinian Authority, the team’s aim was to learn about new procedures regarding family reunification and visit permits, to hear about major problems, and to gather information about current procedures at the Rafah border crossing to Egypt. Also, the team submitted recent documents and information relevant to the efficient handling of Palestinian residency problems to the Gaza NGOs and the PNA, who, due to the military closure, have been cut off from joint human rights efforts in Jerusalem. The AIC team met with representatives of independent NGOs: Atty Raji Sourani/Gaza Center for Human Rights and Law; Atty Sa’id Tawfish/UNRWA; Atty Bashir Abu Khattab/Lawyers for Human Rights in Khan Younis; and with an official representative of the Palestinian Interior Ministry, Tahsein Al-Shawwa, a member of the Palestinian Coordination Committee for Civil Affairs. Some of the July findings were updated during a phone conversation with Atty Sa’id Tawfish/UNRWA in September 1994.
Réfugiés palestiniens et les déplacés internes (IDP)
Centre d’éducation sur la Nakba en Cours
Mobilisation et Intervention
