Article 74 September 1998, Issue No.25
September 1998, Issue No.25 (12)
BADIL’S 1998 VIDEO DOCUMENTARY NOW AVAILABLE IN ENGLISH AND ARABIC!
Written by Badil-AICYoom ilak, Yoom aleik
Palestinian Refugees - Jerusalem 1948 - Heritage, Eviction & Hope
The future? Of course, Israel is strong now.
But things change, no? As we say, yoom ilak, yoom aleik.
-- Ruqaya al-Khalidi, Jerusalem
This film is based on three years of research on the circumstances of Palestinian eviction from the New City (now West Jerusalem) conducted in cooperation with the Institute for Jerusalem Studies. It covers the events in Jerusalem and major villages to its south and west in the period between the 1947 UN Partition Resolution and the first truce between the Arab and Israeli forces in June 1948. The film challenges the major myths surrounding the war of 1948 that resulted in Israeli statehood and Palestinian exile. The film aims, on the one hand, to explain the historical complexity of the Palestinian Nakba in 1948, and provide insight into the diversity of the Palestinian refugee experiences since then.
TWO PALESTINIAN COMMUNITIES IN JERUSALEM THREATENED BY EVICTION
Written by Badil-AICJerusalem 1998 - Land Without a People?
THE CASE OF BIR ‘ONA
Background
Until 1967, Bir 'Ona, located on the slope of al Slaiyeb mountain (now Gilo settlement) south of Jerusalem was a small Palestinian community under the jurisdiction of the municipality of Beit Jala. In 1967, Israel annexed this territory to Jerusalem and later began construction of the Gilo settlement on the hill top above Bir 'Ona. The Palestinian residents, some 150 persons at that time, were included in the Israeli census conducted in newly occupied East Jerusalem (Bir 'Ona residents hold census documents dated 4-8-1968). Although those included in the census were to receive blue Jerusalem ID cards, years passed and no such Israeli ID cards were issued to them. Finally, in 1969 - and only after pressure by the residents - orange-colored West Bank ID cards were issued to them by the Israeli military government/civil administration. At that time, Bir 'Ona residents did not object to receiving the status of West Bank residents, because they were not eager to become legal subjects of the occupying state. For the same reason, the community turned down an eventual offer by Israel, in 1983, to provide them with Jerusalem ID cards. Throughout the 1970s and early 1980s, the community considered itself part and parcel of the 1967 occupied West Bank, just like their neighboring communities of Beit Jala and Bethlehem. They were not aware of the fact that on the maps of the Israeli town planners, Bir 'Ona was part of Israeli-annexed East Jerusalem.
From the beginning of the Oslo accords to the end of 1997, 539 homes were demolished, 96 in the Jerusalem area.
The number of Jerusalem ID card confiscations increased by 600% in 1996. Today, 2 to 3 ID cards are confiscated daily.
In 1997 alone, 20,000 dunums of land was confiscated or Jerusalem settlement expansion.
[Source: LAW, Five Years of Oslo: The Continuing Victimization of Human Rights, September 1998.]
A Step Towards Systematic ID-Card Confiscation in Occupied East Jerusalem?
Based on information provided by the Israeli Interior Ministry to the Israeli human rights organization B'tselem in early 1997, plans to replace the ID cards of all citizens and residents of Israel with new, "smart" (magnetic) ID cards are under preparation (Interior Ministry to B'tselem, 27-1-97). After one-and-a half year of silence, news and rumors about the imminent introduction of these new identity cards re-appeared in the Israeli and Palestinian press in the summer of 1998 (al Ayyam, 15-6-98, al Quds, 1-7-98, Yediot Aharonot, 30-6-98). At that time, the Ministry informed journalists that tenders for the design of the new ID cards were publicized and that several - including foreign - companies were preparing their offers. As of September 1998, no news has followed and timing and procedures of this endeavor remain unknown.
If and when this Israeli plan is realized, Palestinian residency rights in Jerusalem will be effected dramatically. Palestinians will be obliged, by law, to file an application for a new ID card with the Interior Ministry, and the new ID card will be issued only after the applicant's personal file is cleared. This measure, presented by Israel as just another lawful bureaucratic procedure of a sovereign state, will entail a thorough, blanket investigation of all the Ministry's personal files on Palestinian Jerusalemites. It will result in the revocation of Jerusalem residency rights from all those Palestinians who are unable to document that they live within the Israeli municipal boundaries of the city.
BADIL calls upon Palestinian, Israeli and international human rights organizations, PLO and PNA, and foreign governments to monitor all Israeli preparations for the introduction of new ID cards and to inquire with Israeli officials about criteria and procedures to be applied in occupied East Jerusalem.
Israeli Calls to Stop ID Card Confiscation Remain Unheard
Written by Badil-AICOn 6 April 1998, four Israeli human rights organizations petitioned the Israeli High Court on behalf of fourteen Palestinian Jerusalemites whom the Ministry had determined were not residents. The state has not yet filed an answer (see also ARTICLE 74/24).
In 1997, MK 'Azmi Beshara proposed a law amending the Entry into Israel Law, which enables the Minister of the Interior to revoke permanent residency. Pursuant to the proposed law, the Minister's power would be limited, and he would not have the power to revoke the permanent residency of a person born in Jerusalem or that of his immediate family (see also ARTICLE 74/21). The proposed bill passed the first preliminary reading in the Knesset on 9 July 1997. It was forwarded to the Knesset's Committee for Interior Affairs where it has remained since then. As the proposed bill suggests that the amendment should be valid for two years (i.e. until the completion of the final status negotiations in May 1999), time for this initiative is running out.
ID-Card Confiscation from Palestinian Jerusalemites in 1998
Written by Badil-AICDespite statements by the Israeli government in May 1997 that it would consider easing its policy of revoking ID cards of Palestinian residents in East Jerusalem who do not succeed to document permanent domicile in the city, this Israeli policy has continued unchanged in 1998. According to the latest information released by the Ministry spokesperson Tova Elinson on September 14, the number of ID cards "found to have expired" between January - March 1998 is 176 with 500 cases still under investigation. The Ministry has so far abstained from responding to requests for more updated 1998 data.
On 26 August 1998, Sumoud Camp was once again resurrected as a symbol of living resistance inside occupied East Jerusalem. This day marked the first year of Sumoud's existence and the men, women, and children of Sumoud Camp, in conjunction with the help of the Sumoud Solidarity Committee and the Lobby for Human Rights in Jerusalem, celebrated their first year achievements by organizing a Palestinian Popular Arts Festival. Artists from the Al-Wasiti Arts Center, the Jerusalem Center for Arabic Music, the Jerusalem Theater Group, the IBDA Dancing troop from Deheisha Camp, and approximately 300 visitors joined the festival to make the celebration a success. Immediately following the festival, the entire camp rallied together for a march on the Interior Ministry to protest the ethnic cleansing policies in Jerusalem and demand the right to have Jerusalem as the future capital of Palestine.
UNRWA Budget Crisis Unresolved - Refugee Protests Continue
Written by Badil-AICRefugee protest against UNRWA budget cuts has not ceased since summer 1997, when refugees in Palestine, Lebanon, Jordan, and Syria launched simultaneous strikes and marches demanding the cancellation of UNRWA's 1997 austerity program. At that time, a US $20 million emergency grant approved by the donor countries enabled UNRWA to avoid implementation of the most heavily criticized austerity measures in 1997. [see ARTICLE 74/22]
Palestinian Refugees in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, Summer 1998
Written by Badil-AICThis report was prepared by Gerhard Pulfer, whose internship with BADIL is sponsered by the EU Young Volunteer Program.
The Gaza Strip
Many Palestinians arrived in the Gaza Strip the way Abu Yusuf did -- a refugee. Abu Yusuf was born in a village near Asqalan, now Israeli Ashkelon, in 1938. During the war of 1948, with Asqalan under constant bombardment of Zionist planes and the news of the Deir Yassin massacre causing panic and fear, the family fled to Gaza for shelter. But there was none to be found. The Zionist army continued to chase the refugees to the southern regions of Gaza. "We were bombed even in Khan Younis, the planes came from the sea," Abu Yusuf remembers. In 1952, the family moved to the Shati Beach Camp, next to Gaza City, and there the family remained, until today. At first, the area of the beach camp was covered with trees and plants, "it looked like a jungle," says Abu Yusuf but now the entire northern Strip is covered by shelters and unplastered homes. Refugee camps grew into the suburbs of Gaza City, giving the whole area the appearance of a vast chaos of people and cement buildings.
Palestinian Refugee Elections in the West Bank
Written by Badil-AICOn Friday 18 September 1998, 19 representatives of the approximately 20,000 members in the Union of Youth Activities Centres (UYAC) in the West Bank refugee camps elected their new Administrative Committee. The new Administrative Committee members chosen in the elections conducted in the UYAC headquarters in Kalandia Camp are:
Jamal Shati, Head of the Union
Wajih Atallah, General Secretary
Mahmoud Radwan, Treasurer
Salah Abed Rabbo, Spokesperson
Adnan Ajarneh, Coordinator-Southern West Bank Ussama al-Bast, Coordinator-Central West Bank Muhammad Dib, Coordinator-Northern West Bank
Réfugiés palestiniens et les déplacés internes (IDP)
Centre d’éducation sur la Nakba en Cours
Mobilisation et Intervention
