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The
main objective of Israel’s policies since the annexation of East
Jerusalem in 1967 is to create a demographic and geographic situation
in order to control as much territory as they can in Palestine.
Arab houses destroyed by
the Israelis in 1967 to give more Jewish access to the Buraq Wall.
The measure to
“demographically control” has been an increase in the number of Jews
living in the city and
decrease in the Palestinian population.
These measures included
severely restricting Palestinian building in East Jerusalem,
revoking residency and
social benefits, and neglecting infrastructure in Palestinian
neighbhoods. The
measured used to reduce the number of Palestinians living in that
area
and in many others
occupied by the Israelis violate Palestinian’s right and are
contrary to
international law.
Between 1948 and 1967,
Jerusalem was divided in two parts: West Jerusalem and East
Jerusalem. The second
one, contained an area of some 6 sq. km. And was ruled by Jordan.
Following the Six-Day
War (1967) Israel annexed some 70 sq. km to the municipal
boundaries of West
Jerusalem and imposed as they are doing now Israeli law. They
annexed part of which
belonged to the municipality of Bethlehem and Beit Jala including 64
square kilometers of 28
villages in the West Bank. In that way, West Jerusalem became
triples and Jerusalem
became the largest city in Palestine.
After the annexation,
Israel granted permanent residency status to residents in the
annexed
areas but the persons
who were not present for any reason lost their right to reside in
Jerusalem. But to obtain
the status of permanent resident was not that easy because if
they wished to obtained
it they [Palestinians] had to met certain conditions in order to
receive the Israeli
citizenship. Conditions such as: to prove that they are not citizens
of any
other country, to show
some knowledge of Hebrew, and swearing allegiance to the State.
The Palestinians who
obtained the Israeli resident are treated as immigrants, who live in
their homes.
When they obtain the
permanent residency they entitled to social benefits provided by the
National Insurance and
health insurance, they can work in Israel without any special
permit,
they have the right to
vote in local elections but not in elections to Knesset.
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