Israel stripped thousands of Jerusalem Arabs of residency in 2008

To SDHD: There is only one error in your comment. In 1967, the Arabs did NOT "attack" Israel again. It was Israel that initiated the concerted attacks on the Egyptian, Syrian and Jordanian fronts. Be objective. Check your history.

Mandate maps do not affect one word of that I reported in #125. In fact, I don't understand your point in mentioning any map of the Mandate area. What do you want the maps to prove?

You had vowed to go over to help out, now you want others to do the shopping for you You've proved that talk is cheap

Never mind, have it your way, if it makes you feel better Check the Mandate maps, just maybe, though I doubt it, it will bring you to your senses

Simple enough, even for you to understand

And check the number of Israelis abroad retaining their residency and investigate Israel's policy towards them. It won't begin to address the issue of the up- starts in Israel expelling the indigenous people from their homes but it will shed light on the hypocrisy & undermining of Palestinian rights. Dutch

It was never intended that Jordan would be part of Palestine. In September 1922, a clause in the charter governing the Mandate allowed Great Britain to postpone or permanently withhold all of the provisions which related to the "Jewish National Home" on lands which lay to the east of the Jordan River. From that point onwards, Britain administered the part west of the Jordan, 23% of the entire territory, as "Palestine", and the part east of the Jordan, 77% of the entire territory, as "Transjordan." Technically they remained one mandate but most official documents referred to them as if they were two separate mandates. Transfer of authority to an Arab government took place gradually in Transjordan, starting with the recognition of a local administration in 1923 and transfer of most administrative functions in 1928. In preparing the mandate, the Brit Foreign Office made clear "it was necessary to make room for Zionist, not that they should turn the whole country into their home."

Jordan is most certainly Palestine It seems the British took 75% of the Mandate land and gave it to Emir Abdullah as a gift for the services he rendered to the British during World War One Take a look at the Original Mandate map, which clearly shows that Jordan was part of Palestine

Why do Palestinians in the West Bank need Jordanian passports? We in the West Bank have Palestinian Passports and no longer require Jordanian ones, thanks all the same. Palestinians resident in Jordan (more than 50% of the Jordanian population) are full Jordanian citizens and will not be stripped of anything!

Yes n 90 is for real, and you should take care of your problem, it is big enough! and forget about others. Trying to justify your bad behavior by comparing it with the USA's is not going to make it disappear nor justify others.

...please define the following bedrock principle, its supreme importance to Israel, and its immediate relevance to peace between the Israelis and the world: 'territory acquired by war is inadmissible' Why did this international principle come about? What is its importance to the future of Israel? Where is it first applied as a bedrock principle in the Israeli-Arab Conflict?

- Since when does giving a people residency of a State, with the option of applying for citizenship WHENEVER they please to do so equivalent to "ethnic cleansing"? You are probably not aware of this, but ALL Arab East Jerusalem residents are entitled to Israeli Citizenship if they chose to apply for it. Most do not apply for it though, which is why the residency status is maintained. You should read more carefully: Attorney Yotam Ben-Hillel of Hamoked: Center for the Defense of the Individual said the 250,000 Arab residents of East Jerusalem have the same legal status as people who immigrated to Israel legally but are not entitled to citizenship under the Law of Return. "They are treated as if they were immigrants to Israel, despite the fact that it is Israel that came to them in 1967," he said. Once a Palestinian has lost his residency, even returning to Jerusalem for a family visit can be impossible, Ben-Hillel said

The complaints against this would be valid if there had not been at least 4 wars fought by the people now know as Palestinians or the states/militias surrounding Israel with the explicit aim of commiting genocide against Israel. Israel conquered all the "occupied territories" in defensive wars and has the right to do whatever they want with them. You can't complain to the same ones you tried to kill for mercy. Is anybody going to tell me that if Israel had lost the war of independence there would be any Jews left around there?

My experience with interior minister was very bad. Despite having racist laws against Arabs in east Jerusalem, none the less, the interior ministry goes beyond the laws and act as simple plain outlaws and at well. This is mainly due to the fear that Arabs have when going to the interior ministry and for being ignorant of the Israeli laws. My attorney was proud Arab who didn't fear the interior ministry rep and shouted in her face when she told me that I should leave the country and that she didn't follow the law when she decided to revoke my ID, mainly that I received 11 Israeli visa stamps to study in the US and I was not notified about revoking the ID as the law requires to explain my absence beyond the 7 years limit. With that, they had no justification in the court and the interior ministry was forced to give the ID back. I was lucky that I kept extra copies of the Visa stamps, others are not as fortunate.

"Imagine if you had been born in Canada, as had generations before you. Suddenly you are no longer a citizen of your homeland, merely a resident under occupation. You lose your rights as a citizen and can easily become a stateless person if you leave your country for any reason." The imagining would be more accurate if you put it this way. You are an Arab born in East Jerusalem (along with thousands of Jews). Your fellow Arabs kicked out all the Jews in 1948. They attacked the Jews again in 1967 and Jews were able to move back in. Control over East Jerusalem went initially from the Ottomans, to the Brits, to the Arabs (by force) for 19 years, then to the Jews. This was not an autonomous area for over 2000 years. Equating East Jerusalem with a place which is sovereign and taken over by a foreign power is a bunch of bull.

the first Palis were my great great grandparents Jewish zionists from Russia go ahead google it. Te real Pali Territory was given up to Jordan for the "modern day" Arab Palestinian. WHo TW trace back to a Jewish Ancestry. Haven't you ever wondered why they are not accepted in other Arab Countries?

there was no legality behind it. The UN didnt approve, in fact only Pakistan approved.The rest of the world said it was illegal. Jordan revoked its own claims only in 1988. temporary trusteeship- Hahaha. Do you really believe you own lies? Good one.

This is just outrageous. Needless to say, I am embarrassed and ashamed.

Many thanks Haaretz to tell us the truth about inhumane behaviour

Why is it correct to evict Israeli settlers but incorrect to oust Arabs for their activities?

perish the thought tony.we are the people of the law.it is just that your interpretation of teh law differs from ours. check out harvard law school.40% of students are jewish.they would soon put us right.

Over 400,000 'Palestinians' were born in Lebanon and not one of them is a citizen - why?

...I'm with Chris. All Israeli nationals, all over the planet, should have their papers scrutinized to make sure they are where they are supposed to be, and those with dual citizenships given a choice, choose one or the other. What is good for the goose is sauce for the gander. What makes Israel's leadership any different then Milosevic's?

If they are prevented from moving back to Jerusalem or from taking their spouses to live in the family home. Then they are forced to leave Palestinian East Jerusalem and thus the Israeli occupier can deny them right of return and residency. You might like to cosy it up in nice phrases like re-settlement or revocation of residency, but in reality Israel is enacting it's own version of the Nuremburg Laws. And you are happy and proud about it.

//.... it will be faithful to the principles of the Charter of the United Nations. ///

must be forced to revoke their citizenship. If all other EU states did the same this would soon end.

...and I am going to spend the rest of this week working on Cipora's theory. This dual citizenship should now be scrutinized given Israel's latest round of ethnic cleansing. I'm sending her letter to President Obama and all my reps, I am sure he will appreciate her defense of Israel's ethnic cleaning in East Jerusalem. Now with Afghanistan decided maybe he'll have a minute to put Bibi in a headlock and have a serious chat with him about Israel's future.

"how many Jews are allowed to live in Teheran, Cario, or Damascus, and how many where forced to leave these cities." Born in Jerusalem You are obviously losing site of the fact Palestine is the Palestinian peoples' homeland. This isn't simply of living or moving there. This is about apeople direct heritage & sovernigty over their home- land. Dutch

The annexation of East Jerusalem was declared illegal by UNSC Resolution 252 (1968)of 21 May 1968 UNSC Resolution 267 (1969) of 3 July 1969 UNSC Resolution 271 (1969) of 15 September 1969, UNSC Resolution 298 (1971) of 25 September 1971, UNSC Resolution 465 (1980) of 1 March 1980, UNSC Resolution 476 (1980) of 30 June 1980 And yet, Israel defies the International Community!

This is very good news. If we can increase that cosiderably might help to solve the demographic problem in Israel. People tend to forget that Israel was founded three thousand years ago as a Jewish state. A homeland for the Jewish Nation. And so was it was re-created in 1948. We had all the rights to drive out the local Arab population , get them somewhere else to live , in a just and humane manner. The government allowed the Arab population to remain in Israel. They have used this right in a manner that has many times distorted the humane intentions of the founding fathers and has created many problems for the country , and contrary to its' interest and intentions to be and remain a Jewish State , with of cousre Jerusalem its' eternal capital. The six day war gave the country an opportunity to rid itself of these foreign people , even if they lived here 200 years. The israeli leaders foolishly could not read the map properly. So, we must struggle and get rid of who we can in

The article doesn't say whether they can or cannot get back their residency by moving back to the city. There is no reason to assume that there would be a difference between Jews and non-Jews in this respect.

Israel is NOT our friend.

This only makes sense. If you move to another region or country you become a resident of where you move to. You can't live in 2 places at once. Also, many arabs who moved to eastern Jerusalem when it was occupied from 1948 -1967 were illegally settled by Jordan in property confiscated from Jews.

... concrete walls between East and West Jerusalem crumbled, the city was united and we flocked in elation to the Old City and the Wailing-Wall... ... never in our wildest dreams could we have foreseen the relentless protracted conquering that exists today...

The Arabs have their own declaration of Human Rights where Zionism is a crime and women have far fewer human rights than men. I suppose that they consider that Arab women are not as human and that Israel deserves no rights. I wonder what sh who criticises every move that Israel makes has any comment about that declaration. s/he will be silent as usual if it is not something to be said against Israel.

A foreign Jew has no problem obtaining the right to live in Jerusalem. If that Jew then takes a job abroad for a few years and wants to comes back to Jerusalem, also no problem. Equal rights my foot. There are two weights and two measures in Jerusalem that sunder East from West. Can an Arab who is a full citizen of Israel since military rule was lifted in the 1960s buy a place in West Jerusalem? Can that Arab get back the house in Baq'a or Talbiyeh that his or her family abandoned in 1948? Compare that to Jewish "rights" in East Jerusalem and blush. The city is divided not only east from west but also "ordinary members of the human race" from Jew. Just like the world has always been, but with the shoe on the other foot. All that's asked is that you and those who share your opinion don't pretend that this can be called justice.

do you know where america has been in the last 66 years ? korea vietnam iraq 1 iraq 2 afghanistan and countless other escapades which have nothing to do with israel AT ALL !

in brazil your resident status could be taken if you did not visit brazil for 2 years. if you have lest favorable visa it will be taken if you spent more than 90 days abroad. why nobody critisize brazil?

you should be very concerned about how palestinians are treated in the arab world. as they are treated, so will jews be treated, and worse. furthermore, the total lack of human rights in the muslim world, rights which are considered universal, have an overall impact on the conflict.

"a jew can live anywhere he wants in the world for half a lifetime and keep residency rights in jerusalem...." your statement applies only to jews who are israeli citizens. jews who are not israeli citizens, would lose their residency rights.

shalom margie, some people have a very hard time grasping reality. they are blinded by prejudice.

I am saddened that we Americans are so gullible that we do not compare the action of Israel side by side. Our unlimited support has made us an outcast in the world and helped create and feed the Al Qaeda beast. The US needs to come down from it's horse and see what racist by-product, such as Israel, we created as unintended consequence. Time to cut our support.

It's NOT the same as in the US! These aren't foreigners from somewhere else. These are people whose families have lived in the area for centuries, maybe millennia, being pushed out to make way for new immigrants from Russia and America whose only right to live there is a Bronze Age work of nationalist fiction.

bank. Look up the armistice agreement. http://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/arm03.asp

... that the city belongs to both Israelis and Pals, however much we kick-and-scream and disenfranchize...

ILLEGAL!! Plain olde common sense and rational thought...instead of condoning illegal behaviour on the part of Israel....again and again and again http://wp.me/pDB7k-il

of temporary citizenship, valid when Jordan legally annexed the West Bank as a temporary trustee.

"So why is it wrong in Israel " It's NOT IN Israel. It's in illegally acquired illegally annexed occupied territories. "Because its Israel and subject to stricter standards??? " No the same standards as all UN Member states "Wake up and face your enemies from within, fed and funded by the EU to make divisions amongst the Jewish Citizens of Israel" Twaddle. Israel simply has no legal jurisdiction in civil matters in 'territories occupied'

Let me ask you. Can those ex-residents move back and get back their residence of East Jerusalem? Or is that luxary only afforded by Jews?

They don't wanna be part of Israel, they wanna be part of a future Palestinian state. Fact remains, that according to this article, several thousand Jerusalem Arabs have been stripped of their right to live there, while (most probably) not a single one Israeli Jew had to go through the same ordeal. I called it "ethnic cleansing light", other people would probably simply call it "plain racism".....

Yes? No? Should be easy to answer in a word.

Teheran, many Jews live in Iran. Cairo, about 250. Damascus, I don't know but I think none. But do you know what the common thing is between these Jews? They refused to sell out their country and identity for a fascist dream. Enough said.

I suspect that Samir's mother has acquired residecy rights in the US and was not born there? Sounds like she has not yet got an American passport either but is waiting to go through the process, during which time of course she should be expected to stay resident in the US! East Jerusalem arabs were born there and should not have to beg a foreign occupier for the right to come and go.

Before you ask how do Kuwait treat them, ask your self How did Arafat thank Kuwait for all the help and money Kuwait gave him by supporting Saddam against Kuwait, he bit the hand that helped him. Kuwait gave Palastinians and help them more than any arab country. There were more than 400,000 Palastinans used to live in kuwait where they have every thing free, after the invation the majority left and any one deported was given all his belongings and rights, so thank Kuwait before you blame Kuwait, when you dont respect and thank the help you get from any person, then you deserve what you will get.

have Jordanian citizenship also. They can apply for Israeli citizenship but almost all do not. What they are waiting for I do not know. Palestinian Citizenship???

Non Jews who are loyal should get all the benfits of citizenship as everyone else. But, its the Jewish national home. Arabs have 25 national homes for arabs where Jews and Christians cant build houses of worship. Moslems have 54 "national homes". Whats with you people? No people in the history of mankind has been persecuted like the Jewish people for 2000 years. From being burnt alive at the stake by the church, to nazi gas chambers and cremation while alive. Yet youd deny this people whose ONLY historic homeland (of almost 4000 years since Isaac and Jacob) is tiny Israel? Man youre gready sons of guns.

I don't think a person who was born in the US and generations of his family before would be subject to these reseidency laws? Most people are citizens of the countries where they were born and bred. Residents of East Jerusalem were there long before Israel was creatged and certainly longer than most of Israel's immigrant population.Israel has illegally annexed East Jerusalem and none of its actions there are internationally accepted.

that a million more Black Sudanese are butchered by Arab feudal lords in Sudan, than Falestinian terrorists are killed in Israel? Probably not- havent seen you posting in Sudanese papers lately.

since the spring. No anti semite here complained. why is that?

property and land (equaling 4x the size of Israel) confiscated and taken by governments of Arab countries. In general I have little sympathy for people who want us dead. But maybe youre different- maybe you have sympathy for people whod like to kill you. Maybe youre nuts.

Yesterday, i replied on an article which was talking about the EU supporting Jerusalem as the capital of Palestine. Jerusalem is very important for the Israelis as they claim. They should have offered the Paletinians in the city free access to citizenship instead of pushing them out this way. When it comes to time of negotiation, they could claim that there are no Palestinians living there and all are Israelis. Instead, the Israelis played this dirty discrimination game which is leading them into consequences such as the EU declaration.

"Don?t play the naive. The difference to Canada and any other "normal" resident around the world is that a Pal can grow up in East Jerusalem for 25 years, than he moves abroad for a couple of years and suddenly he can?t go back to where he grew up because he only has resident status there (Israel doesn?t grant them citizenship or something similar)." Wrong. The Law of Return does not apply to them because they are not Jews, but all East Jerusalem Arabs are entitled to apply for citizenship irrespective to this law. Most East Jerusalem Arabs do not want Israeli citizenship, but they do have the option of obtaining it.

Netanyahu and the Israeli right constantly whine on about Israel being recognised as a Jewish state. This is why neither the Pals nor anybody else in the world should ever do that. Israel already treats Arabs as undesirable second class citizens, discriminating against them and pushing them out of strategic areas where it can. Recognising Israel as a Jewish state would almost certainly aggravate and accelerate this process.

Since when does giving a people residency of a State, with the option of applying for citizenship WHENEVER they please to do so equivalent to "ethnic cleansing"? You are probably not aware of this, but ALL Arab East Jerusalem residents are entitled to Israeli Citizenship if they chose to apply for it. Most do not apply for it though, which is why the residency status is maintained. You do a dis-service to those really affected by such a phenomenon simply by spinning the true meaning of these words to fit your agenda.

are the Jews going to cry victim again? how could they? who is the refugee? who is starving? who is living in scattered lands with no running water? blame Arafat? he`s dead blame PLO? they kept you on your toes you blame Hamas? they only exist because of you! are the Jews going to do to others what others have done to them?

like the family that was just evicted - lock stock and barrel. No rights because the state of the judaens says they can't have any. because the "returned" judaeans have a book that says god promised them stuff. Whatever. judaens is what bernard avishai calls the settlers of israel. It's a good name. it encapsulates the extent of shared judaism they might have with jews elsewhere. Very little, actually. and getting less so by the day. Just like the conflict between the diaspora and the remnant judaens in the first/2nd century. as we know, the diaspora won that one hands down. The diaspora will win again. The second zion that is the united states is coming along nicely. for now there's still support for the 1st zion. Not for long though. not with these policies. not with these photographs of the evicted and the persecuted. Time for those who can to make the real aliyah - while the going is good. that door will not stay open for long.

A US legal resident who remains outside the US more than 364 days loses legal resident status . Apparently in Israel that does not happen until after 7 years; Israel law is much more lenient.

Moshe! You need to get hooked on phonics or just try to read things a few times before you fully grasp the idea. There were given chance to chose and they did not re-apply. Why is Haaretz puts up such useless articles posterize it to hurt Israel? Are we our own enemy or what?

"As a resident,if you live for more than 6 months abroad you are guess what.Stripped of your status." Don't play the naive. The difference to Canada and any other "normal" resident around the world is that a Pal can grow up in East Jerusalem for 25 years, than he moves abroad for a couple of years and suddenly he can't go back to where he grew up because he only has resident status there (Israel doesn't grant them citizenship or something similar).Is that the same as in Canada? do you automatically lose your right to return to where you grew up when moving abroad for some time?!? "Moreover those people don`t live in Israel so why should Israel grant them permanent residency?Focus on the word Residency please." they don't want to live in Israel, they want to live in East Jerusalem, where they grew up but only got temporary resident status by Israel!Understand?!now stop playing dumb!

of over 800,000 Jews. Kicked them to Israel which took them in. Egypt keeps Gaza Arabs out - for years - even during Cast Lead, Israel's response to 8 years of rockets - and Egypt even forced back thousands of Arabs into Gaza who broke through Egypt's Gaza border, while Hamas tosses Fatah off Gaza rooftops, tortures and kills many more including Christian Arabs celebrating weddings -- and people have the gall to say ISRAEL is inhuman. Give it a break. 21 Arab states, 57 Muslim states, the word's biggest oil-funded propaganda machine ever, and good old traditional Jew-hate. Let the Muslim Arabs finally settle their brothers in their own huge lands. They have the means and money, and also have the Israel-haters blind over a barrel.

Slow down? US residents if they leave and are not back within a year they lose their residency status, and this happened to my own mother who stayed outside the US for more than 12 months. So why is it wrong in Israel and not wrong anywhere else on this planet? Because its Israel and subject to stricter standards??? Wake up and face your enemies from within, fed and funded by the EU to make divisions amongst the Jewish Citizens of Israel.

Give a thought to the hundreds of thousands of Jews who've been stripped of EVERYTHING when forced to leave homes they and their ancestors inhabited for centuries. Not only propety but cash and assets and sometimes lives .

Indeed, very interesting question!!

Well done, Israel. You are the only claimed democracy in the Middle East. However, the pattern of behaviour confirms that you may be a real democracy for Jewish immigrants but proving to be a CRUEL democracy for Palestinians. Long Israel double standard of justice.

@Irrelevant: As this is not about a place in Israel but in the Westbank, occupied territory, the alternative is not Israel citizenship. It's like being revoked french residency because you've spend time abroad from '39 to '48 and lost your home because of it. They had residency there, but now their home is occupied by hostile foreigners that like to harass the original residents, why should they come back to this environment?

Yes you get citizenship in Canada but you must swear allegence to Canada and abide by its laws. Clearly something that many Arabs living in Israel refuse to do.

"As the article states, everyone was notified and given a chance to appeal" As the article states: "Officials at Hamoked, which obtained the ministry data via the Freedom of Information Act, said they were concerned that some of those who lost their residency rights may not even know it." next?

What difference does it make how Kuwait and Lebanon treat "them"? We're the moral country, the only democracy in the Middle East, no, Aryeh?

A Jew can live wherever he wants in the world for half a lifetime and keep residency rights in Jerusalem, a Palestinian has to sit either in his house or in the open air next to it after he's been evicted, in order to keep residency rights. When Lieberman, Bibi, Livni, Barak mouth the words united Jerusalem, do their tongues not cleave to the rooves of their mouths?

....but coming from a people that has gone through an "ethnic cleansing hard-style" only 70 years ago, makes it even much, much worse and more difficult to comprehend.

The law mentioned in this article was a 1995 law rescinded four years later after it was discovered that more Arabs were moving back in order to retain their status. In March 2000, the Minister of the Interior, Natan Sharansky, stated that the "quiet deportation" policy would cease, the prior policy would be reverted, and Arab natives to Jerusalem would be able to regain residency if they could prove that they have visited Israel at least once every three years. Since December 1995, permanent residency of more than 3,000 individuals "expired," leaving them with neither citizenship nor residency. Despite changes in policy under Sharansky, in 2006 the number of former Arab Jerusalemites to lose their residency status was 1,363, a sixfold increase on the year before. The loss of status is automatic and sometimes occurs without their knowledge. Most who lose their status simply don't come back to update it, or just dont come back at all, period!

Yes, Israel didn't expel these people, but they have engaged in a form of ethnic cleansing by not allowing them to live in the city they were born in. If this isn't serious discrimination, I don't know what is. To say, it's because they don't live there is ridiculous, because a Jewish person who wasn't even born there can leave and have the right to live there, but not a Jerusalem whose family has been there for generations because he speaks Arabic.

If you don't live in a place you aren't a resident. I suppose that's hard to understand if you are determined not to. The Law of Return exists because Jews were kicked out of everywhere for thousands of years without options. Your good intentions should take facts into account. We hope that in our generation we don't need the proof of the need for a Jewish refuge again.

To the liberals who are screaming about the supposed evil of declaring non-residents to be exactly what they are: non-residents: I am sure you would prefer, in the usual liberal way, to pretend that a particular reality doesn't exist if only you refrain from naming it. The Arabs involved are non-residents of Jerusalem because they do not reside in Jerusalem. To continue to insist that they are residents despite the facts to the contrary, is to engage in a bitter struggle with the facts of reality. It is embarrassing to even have to point this out, but clearly it is necessary. For once, try thinking with your heads and not your emotions.

All Arab East Jerusalem residents ARE BY LAW ENTITLED to Israeli citizenshep. "Following the 1967 annexation, Israel conducted a census in East Jerusalem and granted permanent Israeli residency to those Arab Jerusalemites present at the time of the census. Those not present lost the right to reside in Jerusalem. Jerusalem Jordanians were permitted to apply for Israeli citizenship, provided they met the requirements for naturalization?such as swearing allegiance to Israel and renouncing all other citizenships?which most of them refused to do. At the end of 2005, 93% of the Arab population of East Jerusalem had permanent residency and 5% had Israeli citizenship." Most simply do not want Israeli citizenship, yet they are until this day entitled. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Jerusalem

Those Arabs who have residency are those who refused citizenship of Israel. If they lost their residency because they live in another country that is only what the words themselves mean.

It's an occupied territory. What is it that Israel does not understand about illegal? Illegally acquiring territory by war. Illegally annexing. Illegally instituting Israeli civil law in occupied territories. Stones are more intelligent.

Jews have had a presence in Jerusalem longer then the Arabs. You make me Laugh. So called Palistinian people have only been around since 67 Just ask Arafat.

Jordan conquered the old city of Jerusalem in 1948. article 7 of the UN charter is in forceFor these conquerersThey should never have moved in in the first place. Then they sold their homes in order to live as millionaires abroad. Now they want to come back an live in the paradise called israel

So, in a nut shell, if a Palestinian wants to study abroad, and the course takes more than 7 years, they can either complete the course have have qualifications and have no way to return to their home, or they can stay where they are and have less education.

Well, the Israeli Interior Minister needs to watch out here because, under International Law, East Jerusalem is occupied territory: Beware that transfer of civilians from occupied territories is a war crime and is subject to accountability under international law. As a matter of fact, Palestinians should start filing complaints against all Israeli officials involved in this matter ... On another note, i think the way the news is portrayed in Haaretz gives this impression of pride and success for the Interior Ministry but what pride are we talking about and what achievement? more hatred between the two peoples and more resentment!! If that is what the Interior Ministry is after, then they have done a great job!!! Additionally, who would take pride in stripping the indigenous people from staying in the place where they have been borne? Is this something to be proud about? Very interesting!!! This is definitely a sadist culture and the price will come very soon ...

Racheli, no one is forcing you to go to Israel. But TG Israel is there, because the sad truth is that when the Muslims increase in number in the US and antisemitism becomes intolerable like in Europe, at least there will be a place willing to accept you.

This is just one more example of how Israeli terorism has trampled the Palestinians. Ben Gurion warned us that the world would judge Israel by how it treats Arabs. I praise the Palestinians for having patiently endured the Israeli occupation, and I am ashamed of my fellow Jews for having allowed this travesty. Israel does not represent the Jewish people nor the Jewish religion.

Sounds an awful lot like the "law for the restoration of the civil service". Don't know what that was? Look it up.

ahhh the logic of a zionist, "Moreover those people don`t live in Israel so why should Israel grant them permanent residency?Focus on the word Residency please." and there you have it folks, the nutcase claims east jerusalem is not part of palestine, while many around the world see palsetine what jews claim as israel (inside their heads), long live the pals and palsetine, i used to think jews needed a country to call a home, i'm now more thinking that they should never have been created, because the middle east is a nightmare ever since israel was created.

Imagine if you had been born in Canada, as had generations before you. Suddenly you are no longer a citizen of your homeland, merely a resident under occupation. You lose your rights as a citizen and can easily become a stateless person if you leave your country for any reason. Any Jerusalemite living in the West Bank is also liable. Strange that Settlers live freely in the West Bank as Israeli citizens.

Palestinians are not "residents", they are not "citizens", they are Natives to the land, and since they are not Israeli's, they do not need to get any permits to live in Jerusalem. 100% of All Palestinians living there have a blood line going back hundreds of years. most of the Jews came from Europe. end the occupation please.

Problem is that there are different laws for different people in one country. As long as Israeli politicians keep toggling between the two there will never be peace... or fairness.

This is very simple. East Jerusalem is Occupied Palestinian Territory! Period! The entire world recognizes this. Israel should have no jurisdiction over it at all. Yet as a matter of fact they do. How can you justify revoking residency of Arabs from their homes? You better believe that if I moved from Houston and lived a few years in some European country to do some post-graduate work, the U.S. wouldn't revoke my citizenship....because my property is MY PROPERTY. I don't understand how the world turns a blind eye to this. What right does Israel have to do this? Disgusting! and Israel is supposed to be a democracy...I guess it is if you are a Jew...no one is revoking any Jews' residency.

"250,000 arab residents of east jerusalem have the same legal status as people who immigrated to israel legally but are not entitled to citizenship under the law of return." the arab residents had been offered citizenship but such was refused. the law of return is not the only avenue for acquiring israeli citizenship. people who are residents, as opposed to citizens, do not have the same rights as citizens once they leave the country for an extended period of time. this is a universally accepted practice. according to the interior ministry, "thousands of people listed as east jerusalem residents...were no longer living in israel, and were therefore stripped of their residency. most of those who lost their residency for this reason did not just move from jerusalem to the west bank, but were actually living in other countries." by definition, if a person decides to reside in another country, that person loses residency in the previous country.

writer.The arabs have stripped the Jews from all their lands and property all over the ME and when Jordan had it, Jewish property was destroyed and Jews were not allowed to enter.Why doesn't Hasson do his homework and help coexistence instead of inciting hatred.This article does a disservice to the peace goals.shame on Hasson for not showing fairness

Many of them are in fact "Johnny-come-latelys"! They were settled there by Jordan when it occupied Jerusalem. Funny how the world only wants Jewish settlers removed.

So why is any Jewish person on this planet allowed to be a resident of Israel even though he or she "weren't there" for almost 2,000 years?

Our Arab dictatorships treat Palestinians even worse - they deprive them of work and proper education and then deport them. Remember when the Gulf states deported more than 400,000 Palestinians after first Gulf War? (Thanks Olivia)

In canada you live 3 years you get your citezenship . theose guys live there it's there land and can"t even built a house because of the impossibilite to a permit from the racist administration

are allowed to live in Teheran, Cario, or Damascus, and how many where forced to leave these cities.

...you are absolutely correct. It is not fair, nor just, nor even legal. The "annexation" of East Jerusalem has always been illegal and considered null and void. Even the US resists putting the embassy there for this fact. East Jerusalem will be the capital of the nascent state of Palestine. It is inevitable and the only way forward for peace.

...good choice on the moniker... There is no 'right of conquest' nor any "conqueror" because in the modern world, 'territory acquired by war is inadmissible'. Ain't truth and facts grand!

Israeli People Must Thank Mahmood Abbas for providing them with the security that they needed to do whatever they want ...if there were no Abbas Isarel would not be able to do whatever they do in jerusalem.I encourage Isarel to give Abbas the citizenship

The Government and settler movement in israel are outragous! The United States' government's support for them is equally insulting and shameful! Thank God for the EU on this on!!!

Jean Marie, you must be talking of non citizen resident who absent himself, landed immigrant in Canada (immigrant recu). This is not the case in Jerusalem. These are non jewish citizens who precede the state of Israel whom are considered to have abandonned their residence (if they go to study for a couple of years, or join a spouse somewhere else, or go to attend over a long period of time to a sick parent ). A jew can however : go to study for a couple of years, or join a spouse somewhere else, or go to attend over a long period of time to a sick parent without jeopardising his citizenship. The kind of discrimination that Bnai Brith and AIPAC will never admit exists in public and defend in private. The ADL may know but this wouldn't be one of their pet causes.

The State of Israel has no right to expel the residency of people that no longer live there because the State does not have sovereignty over East Jerusalem, therefore the reach of the Interior Ministry should be confined to land where the sate has control. Insanity.

While technically legal due to have Israel has classified them but that classification is also illegal under Int. Laws due to no other country recognizes E. Jerusalem as part of Israel. For the cases after July 2002 they should go to the international criminal court, not sure if they could take the case but would depend on how it is filed, since Israel claims E. Jerusalem but UN does not agree.

When the UN declared Zionism as a form or racism, jewery everywhere screamed bloody anti semeticism . With money, influence and pressure, the resolution was revoked. Now the Vail has been lifted to the rest of the world. The only "democracy" in the region is only the only apartheid practitioner... Shame shame shame...

what about the students that study abroad? also, please note that becoming an Israeli citizen for an east jerusalmite is almost impossible. ... how many jews are there in the world that have the right to come in jerusalem and have more rights than the palestinian residents of jerusalem?

A Kosher Style State Yes! You can have clicks within clicks. An Orthodox Click can exist that only marries their own is fine. I have cousins that are extremely rich. They tend to marry other rich people and we see them only once a year or whenever there is a wedding or Bar/Bat-Mitzvah. You can have these clicks but I just personally think anyone that wants to declare themselves a Jew is a Jew. We can have Jewish Jews, Atheist Jews, Buddhist Jews, Muslim Jews, Christian Jews, CHINESE JEWS!. Any kind of Jew is fine with me as long as they think like a Jew, act like a Jew, and believe that Israel is the Promised Land for Jews. That's all. We spread out this Jewish thing so it's on a piece of Parchment that say's that Person "Is A Jew!" Ofcourse, the State Of Israel charges them whatever the going rate is. It beats selling Trees in the JNF Forest. I must have bought 20 of those in Sunday School! Oh the Pork Thing. Fox News had a video that would stop anyone from eating that.

The difference, Jean-Marie, is that Israel came to them, they didn't move to Israel. This was their home before it became Israel. It makes all the difference in the world, and essentially means them becoming expelled from their homeland.

Many of those whose residency is in danger of being revoked are students, born and brought up in East Jerusalem, who have gone abroad for university. They end up facing the choice of coming back to East Jerusalem, often to unemployment, or not being able to live with their families again. This is just one of the many discriminatory practices those with a Jerusalem ID are subjected to - including prolonged searches and questioning at Ben Gurion, when they leave AND when they come back. As a Jewish immigrant, I am terribly ashamed of my country for doing this. We lost the Public Relations battle long ago and are now trampling on International Human Rights law as if it meant nothing to us. Enough is enough.

I wouldn't have done that.

As a resident,if you live for more than 6 months abroad you are guess what.Stripped of your status. Moreover those people don't live in Israel so why should Israel grant them permanent residency?Focus on the word Residency please.

I just wonder where in the world in the 21st centry we still have people acting like the stone age days. Totaly unfair and unjust to force people out of their land and homes.

Canada allows dual citizenship but non-residents lose some privileges, such as national health care, and many countries do not allow dual citizenship. The US requires a oath renouncing all previous allegencies but does not prohibit dual citizenship. It would seem to me that if you do not reside somewhere you cannot be called a resident of that place. The unique situation that Israel is a Jewish homeland allows for Jews to retain residency rather than re-apply each time they change residence whereas Arabs who forsake their residence in the Jewish state would not be able to re-apply successfully. As the article states, everyone was notified and given a chance to appeal

Seems grossly unfair. I, an American Jew, can freely move to Israel and recieve automatic citizenship. Thousands of Americans vote in Israeli elections. My Russo-Israeli husband, whose not-quite-Jewish family has been in Israel for only a decade has lived in the US for years, but can freely move back. Yet someone whose family has been there for generations can go away for 7 years (that's an undergraduate and masters) and receive a permanent bar? Shocking. Outrageous. Inhumane.

Palestinians in East Jerusalem, however, have made the choice not to become citizens. Made the choice, because Palestinians in East Jerusalem (unlike those in the West Bank, which is another story and one where Israel comes of far less favorably), have been eligible for Israeli citizenship since Israel conquered&annexed it. Some have taken it. http://captaininternet.co.il/hasen/spages/921428.html http://www.ynet.co.il/english/articles/0,7340,L-3468672,00.html In this particular instance, it's not any different than what other countries do regarding non-citizen permanent residents who leave for a long period of time

Peace = East Jerusalem capital of Palestine! Point blank!

"250,000 Arab residents of East Jerusalem have the same legal status as people who immigrated to Israel legally but are not entitled to citizenship under the Law of Return. They are treated as if they were immigrants to Israel, despite the fact that it is Israel that came to them in 1967"

Plenty, I assure you. And I guarantee you that none need worry about their residency being revoked back home. How you can support such an unjust, patently immoral procedure is beyond me. Unless of course you're a fascist.

I am not legally authorized to live anywhere or get citizenship. This level of racism/injustice will not last forever. "Over time, whats not meant to be wont be" Israel has 20 years max left before it self destructs.

"-expulsion for being Jewish" They weren't expelled. Their residency was revoked. Why? Because they weren't there!

The level of pure unadulterated racism is astonishing----expulsion for being Jewish --oh sorry--for not being Jewish and perpetrated by the "democratic state" of Israel