Did You Know

Quotes:

Mayor Kollek’s Jerusalem (1967- 1993)

“We said things without meaning them, and we didn’t carry them out. We said over and over that we would equalize the rights of the Arabs to the rights of the Jews in the city—empty talk .… Never have we given them the feeling of being equal before the law. They were and remain second – and third-class citizens.
“The mayor nurtured nothing and built nothing. For Jewish Jerusalem I did something in the past 25 years. For East Jerusalem? Nothing! What did I do? Nothing. Sidewalks? Nothing. Cultural institutions? Not one. Yes, we installed a sewerage system for them and improved the water supply. Do you know why? Do you think it was for their good, for their welfare? Forget it! There were some cases of cholera there, and the Jews were afraid that they would catch it…”

“We said over and over that we would equalize the rights of the Arabs to the rights of the Jews in the city – empty talk… Both Levi Eshkol and menachem Begin promised them equal rights – both violated their promise… Never have we given them a feeling of being equal before the law. They were and remain second- and third-class citizens.”

Ma’ariv, October 1990

“Jerusalem has to be built in a way that will prevent its repartition. Without land expropriations, tens of thousands of Jews would not be living in the new neighbourhoods today.”

Ha’aretz, January 1993

Mayor Olmert’s Jerusalem (1993-2003)

“Every area in the city that is not settled by Jews is in danger of being detached from Israel and transferred to Arab control. Therefore, the administrative principle regarding the area of the city’s municipal jurisdiction must be translated into practice by building in all parts of that area, and, to begin with, in its remotest parts.”

Ha’aretz May 1994

Amir Cheshin, former advisor on Arba affairs to the mayor of Jerusalem

”The planning and building laws in East Jerusalem rest on a policy that calls for placing obstacles in the way of planning in the Arab sector – this is done in order to preserve the demographic balance between Jews and Arabs in the city, which is presently in a ratio of 72 percent Jews versus 28 percent non-Jews.”

Kol Ha’ir, December 1994

Mayor Lupolianski’s Jerusalem (2003- )

Jerusalem Mayor Uri Lupolianski has continued the policies of his predecessors. Lupolianski is currently working to rezone the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Wadi Joz, in order to build Jewish settlements in the area. The neighborhood in question was zoned and planned a number of years ago by the Housing Ministry for Arab residents.

Despite a massive settlement building program, and Jewish immigration to Jerusalem, the percentage of Jews in the city has fallen from 74.2% to 67%. According to data compiled by Israeli planning officials, Jerusalem's Jewish population is expected to shrink by up to 60 percent by 2020.

Ha’aretz September 2004

International Law:

The Fourth Geneva Convention (1949), Article 49(6) prohibits an occupying power from transferring parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies.

Under International Law, East Jerusalem is occupied territory, which means that the Fourth Geneva Convention is applicable and Israel has no claim to East Jerusalem by virtue of having taken control over it militarily.

There have been 10 UN Security Council resolutions passed regarding Jerusalem: 252, 267, 271, 290, 446, 452, 592, 672, 673, 681 – none of which were implemented by Israel, and most of which were vetoed by the United States.

Every year the UN General Assembly Recallsits resolution 181 (II) of 29 November 1947, in particular its provisions regarding the City of Jerusalem, whereby it states that FIND

The international community, including the United States, considers East Jerusalem to be occupied territory – i.e. the same status as the West Bank and Gaza.

In 1980 Israel reaffirmed the de facto annexation of Jerusalem through its ‘Basic Law on Jerusalem’ declaring the city its ‘eternal undivided capital’ – a harsh violation of international law. UNSC Res. 478 of the same year condemned the move and states that ‘all legislative and administrative measures and actions taken by Israel, the occupying power, which have altered or purport to alter the character and status of the Holy City of Jerusalem, and in particular, the recent ‘Basic Law on Jerusalem’, are null and void and must be rescinded forthwith’.

Did you know that:

History:
Occupation

In 1967 Israel unilaterally expanded the municipal borders of East Jerusalem from 6km² to a total of 70km², thereby expropriating the lands of some 28 West Bank villages.

In 1967 80 000 Palestinians from West Jerusalem where made homeless

UN General Assembly Res. 2253 of July 1967 called upon Israel to ‘rescind all measures taken (and) to desist forthwith from taking any action that would alter the status of Jerusalem’. In totally ignoring the resolution, Israel confiscated over 25,879 dunums of Palestinian land in Jerusalem over the first three years of occupation alone.

One of the first acts of the Israeli military after occupying the Old City of Jerusalem in 1967 was to completely demolish the Mughrabi or Moroccan quarter and to evict its inhabitants in order to clear away for a plaza in front of the Wailing Wall. 135 houses and two mosques were destroyed and 650 people were left homeless.

The Municipality grants an average of 150 - 200 permits a year for Arab housing and demolishes over a 100 units a year. Between 1967-2001, 80,800 units were built in Jerusalem for Jews, most of them with government subsidies and 44,000 of them on land expropriated in East Jerusalem. – Meir Margalit, ICHAD

Not one new neighborhood for Palestinians has been constructed in East Jerusalem since 1967 and due to these restrictive Israeli policies, there is a huge housing shortage for Palestinians in the city.

Only 13% of the entire area of East Jerusalem annexed to Israel in 1967 is earmarked for the development and building of Palestinian residential neighbourhoods. Sarah Kaminker, Planning and Housing Issues in East Jerusalem

Not a single housing unit for Palestinians has been constructed on the land expropriated, however, approximately 33,000 housing units for Jews have been constructed on this land. B’Tselem, “A Policy of Discrimination,” May 1995

As of 2006, there is about a quarter of million Jewish settlers living in occupied East Jerusalem.
East Jerusalem settlements account for more than 70% of the growth of the Jewish population in Jerusalem

Undeveloped areas in East Jerusalem are often designated “green” for public or open space— i.e. not to be used for construction. However, these areas are only “green” for Palestinians. In other words, the zone is “green” until the Israeli municipality decides to use the land to build a new Jewish settlement or expand an existing settlement.

Palestinian Jerusalemites make up 34% of the city’s residents and pay 30% of municipals services but only get 10% of its welfare budget.

Palestinian residents in the city are also subjected to an unfair tax system which requires them to pay the same rates as their Israeli counter parts whose per capita income is 8 times higher.

There are 23 Jewish settlements in Greater Jerusalem. They now stand on 35% of the land of East Jerusalem.

Since January 2006, access to East Jerusalem for Palestinians with West Bank ID cards is only possible through four checkpoints. To cross one of these four checkpoints a West Bank resident must first apply for a permit. Permits are only granted for specific reasons, such as a medical referral or proof of enrolment in a school. In total, there are 12 permanent checkpoints controlling the entry and exit of Palestinians into Occupied East Jerusalem. http://www.ochaopt.org/documents/Closure%20Apr07_2.pdf

Palestinian Jerusalemites hold the status of "permanent resident" of the State of Israel. This is the same status granted to foreign citizens who have freely chosen to come to Israel and want to live there. Israel treats Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem as immigrants, who live in their homes at the beneficence of the authorities and not by right. http://www.btselem.org/English/Jerusalem/Legal_Status.asp

If a Palestinian Jerusalemite wishes to travel abroad, they must obtain an Israeli re-entry visa; otherwise, they lose their right of return to the city.

If a Palestinian Jerusalemite lives abroad for more than 7 years they lose their residency rights.

A Palestinian Jerusalemite who marries a non-resident (wither from abroad or from the West Bank or Gaza strip) has to apply for family reunification in order to live legally with their spouses in Jerusalem. Most of these applications are turned down without any justification. - refrase

A Palestinian Jerusalemite who holds or applies for residency or citizenship elsewhere loses their residency right in Jerusalem.

Since 1967, 8,269 East Jerusalemites have had their residency revoked and their ID cards confiscated. http://www.btselem.org/english/Jerusalem/Revocation_Statistics.asp

It is estimated that if Israel would begin again to handle family reunification requests and apply the quota of 4000 a year set in the year 2000, it would take at least 30 years to process the more than 120 000 requests that have so far accumulated since the freezing of family reunification requests in May 2002.

Since 1967 10,000 houses have been demolished in the Occupied Territories; 2000 of them have been demolished in East Jerusalem alone. Over 10,000 more houses are awaiting demolishment in East Jerusalem – ICHAD

There are 750,000 residents in Jerusalem, 250,000 of them are residents of the eastern part of the city. 60,000 of these residents are today on the other side of the Wall. When the works will be concluded, the Wall in the Jerusalem region will stretch over 155 kilometers.

Approximately 25% of the Palestinians holding East Jerusalem ID cards are located on the West Bank side of the Wall.

House building permit,

Palestinians – Muslims and Christians – from the West Bank have to apply for a permit to visit their holy places in Jerusalem.

There are 25 mosques, 65 churches and 19 synagogues inside the Old City of Jerusalem.

The Old City of Jerusalem is divided into four quarters: Jewish, Muslim, Christian and Armenian. The Jewish quarter is modern and fully serviced, while the resting three Palestinian quarters have few services, are overcrowded (41 persons/1000 sq. m), dilapidated and unsafe. This is because there is no investment in these quarters and they are not allowed to renovate or expand their homes.

No Muslims or Christians are allowed to live in the Jewish Quarter of the Old City, but Jews can live anywhere they want.

Produced By: Palestinian Agricultural Relief Committees Palestinian for Peace and Democracy