Introduction
Since Israel's occupation of Jerusalem in 1967, the city and its Palestinian residents have been subjected to orchestrated Israeli violation of their most basic rights. The occupying power has dedicated itself to coercive annexation and evacuation of the holy city's indigenous population. This policy has inevitably left its traces on the Palestinian residents of the city, as it is enforced by way of the most blatant discrimination.
The Jerusalem Centre for Social and Economic rights was founded to challenge Israeli discriminatory policy against the indigenous inhabitants of this land, defend Palestinian residency rights in Jerusalem, protect their rights and provide free legal assistance.
In its first report, the Jerusalem Centre for Social and Economic rights demonstrates the most prominent cases of violations in occupied Arab Jerusalem, the extent of damage they cause to international agreements and covenants, particularly those related to human rights. This report also includes an overview of free legal assistance which the center had provided to its clients since its establishment in December 1997 to this present day.
A description of Israeli Human Rights Violations in the city of Jerusalem:
Since Israel's occupation of Jerusalem in 1967, the city and its Palestinian residents have been subjected to orchestrated Israeli violation of their most basic rights. The occupying power has dedicated itself to coercive annexation and evacuation of the holy city's indigenous population, in the name of 'judaisation'. This policy has inevitably left its traces on the Palestinian residents of the city, as it is enforced by way of the most blatant discrimination. This policy was followed in al- Magharbeh neighbourhood whereby the Palestinian residents were expelled from their native city and had their houses demolished to be replaced by new housing for Jewish residents. This is in addition to the 70,500 dunums of land that was annexed by Israel and incorporated into West Jerusalem. That part of annexed land was forced under Israeli jurisdiction and regulations in a discriminatory manner orchestrated against the indigenous and legitimate population - a policy based on the grab of Palestinian property, and the evacuation of the Arab population to be replaced by Jews - individuals, groups and institutions. These basis have formed the core of Israeli policy along the years of occupation until this present day in an attempt to judaize the city and dedicate total annexation. In this context, Israeli procedures have diversified and violations have multiplied against the indigenous population.
The most prominent violations can be summarised as follows:
Confiscation of Property and dedication of coercive Annexation
Israeli successive governments have sustained their adverse policies against Palestinians and their property though illegal means based on the supremacy of the occupier and in total contradiction to international laws and regulations. Today, 34% of land has been confiscated and 52% declared 'green' or 'wasteland', where construction is forbidden for Arabs whilst it remains a strategic reserve for settlement expansion in the future. This reserve has been had been recently used to build ,more settlements as is the case in Jabal Abu Ghneim, Shu'fat and many others. Settlement expansion and construction is usually at the expense of the Palestinian property in Jerusalem and at the expense of the needs for construction to meet the processes of natural growth.
In other measures, Israel has imposed a property tax on personal property investments that have not been exploited and had been declared 'green' or on the property whose owners have not used due to financial difficulties or military orders banning construction or problems in settling inheritance issues. The Israeli Jerusalem Municipality has also imposed very high fees and impossible conditions to obtain construction licenses. The fees were imposed reactively. It has often happened that the landlords were unable to pay the fees. The tax authorities have filed against the landlords and had their properties sold in public auctions. The properties usually fall in the hands of settlers who are more than happy to pay astronomical sums of money in order to own them as is the case in the properties of southern and northern parts of the city. An estimated 34% of land have been confiscated under the cover of ' public interest'. An estimated 15 settlements have been built on this confiscated land in addition to 9 agricultural installations, and 100 light and heavy industries.
During the last years, Israel has carried three main campaigns to expand the Jerusalem borders. The first was in the aftermath of the 1967 war and included 70 Km sq., 108.5 Km Sq. in the West. The second took place in 1982 in what was called the project of the center. The third had taken place before an official declaration of the projects; a plan endorsed by the Israeli Government in June 1998 to expand the Jerusalem borders by annexing all the surrounding settlements and connecting them together at the expense of Palestinian property. This plan is known as the Great Jerusalem or the Metropolitan plan. According to the plan, the Jerusalem borders will eat up some of the land in the West Bank and will extend to Jericho in the east, Ramallah in the north, and the northern parts of the distirct of Hhebron in the south of the West Bank. The area within the borders of Great Jerusalem is expected to be bound to 850 Km Sq.
Blatant Discrimination against the indigenous residents
The remaining Palestinians are only allowed to build on 14% of Arab Jerusalem. Construction of Palestinian property is subject to impossible conditions and often lack facilitation. The remaining property has already been used by the settlers to construct their own housing and the rest of the land had been sealed off and characterised as green areas where construction is not allowed. Since 1967, Israeli occupation authorities have allowed 10,492 housing units to be built for Palestinians, while settlers have built 71, 600 units in the Eastern Arab part of the city. This, in addition to 35, 000 housing units which had been planned making it 7 times more than what Palestinians had been allowed to build in their own native city despite the desperate need for housing. Palestinian residents of the city have been suffering a housing crisis in the city pushing those who own plots of land to build their houses without having to obtain Israeli licenses, while the others who do not own land have been pushed outside the municipal borders. During the last 45 years, more than 400 demolition orders have been issued against Arab houses, of which 144 have been implemented to date.
There are 1,400 houses inside the old city of Jerusalem in desperate need of maintenance and renovation. 356 of these houses are on the verge of collapse, due to negligence, lack of services, a ban in renovation and recent archaeological excavations carried out by the Israeli Municipality.
In the context of severing the city from other Palestinian cities and banning entry into it since 1993, the residents have been forced to pay a heavy price for this isolation. According to Israeli figures, the percentage of people living below the poverty was 40% in 1997, while 35% are permanently unemployed, mainly due to the revocation of the social and economic rights of Palestinians inside and outside the city. Many Palestinian residents of the city have been subjected to various punitive measures for being unable to pay the taxes. These measures have ranged from imprisonment, to seizure of property. Among other high taxes, the Arnona tax is probably the most obnoxious which in the event of failing to pay, the Israeli courts impose a retroactive manner in addition to the fines of the delays. The Arnona is the tax paid for occupying space in the city of Jerusalem collected by the municipality in return for the services. According to figures collected by the Jerusalem centre for social and cultural rights, the taxes levied by the municipality from Arab residents account for approximately 30% of the city's yearly revenue, but only 5% is diverted back to them in the form of services. This tax surpasses the financial means of 90% of the Arab Jerusalemite population. The tax is based on a principle of equality between the Palestinian traders and Israelis, whose businesses and incomes are inevitably more successful than their Palestinian counterparts. Moreover, the services given to the eastern side are comparatively much smaller than those given to the western side. If the municipality maintains this policy of discrimination and high taxation, it will eventually evacuate the city. This policy has negatively affected the movement of trade and caused several SMEs to close within and around the Old City of Jerusalem due to high taxes. Of the 1,000 shops in the Old City, 250 have now closed.
In this context, Arab Jerusalem suffer 50% deficiency of services in its infra-structure while the policy of discrimination has affected all the aspects of life. Israel forces the Israeli syllabus onto Arab schools.
There is a shortage of 344 classrooms, which adds to the already-existing problems in education and has forced education to regress to 32 years ( the period of occupation from 1967) in comparison with the educational system in West Jerusalem and the subsidy and progress with which it was nourished compared to that in the Easter part of the city.
Not one hotel has been built during the occupation. Palestinians are not permitted to publish their own brochures on tourism. Instead, tourists receive Israeli publications which tend to distort or forge historical facts about the city of Jerusalem. Israel has long monopolised the information that is distributed to tourists and has for long used Israeli tour guides to show the tourists inside Jerusalem.
Revoking Residency Rights
Arab Jerusalemites are constantly examined by the Israeli Ministry of Interior that has taken upon itself to punish those who do not comply with the Israeli regulations. Such a policy has become a daily practice through which the Arabs have been treated as 'residents under special conditions', residents who actually precede the Israelis. The Arabs are treated as aliens in their own native city. Arabs have to prove the location of their residence. If they are suspected, they have to provide documents to prove their residency inside the city for at least 7 years.
According to Israeli non-official figures, which are also confirmed by Human Rights Organisations, an estimated 20, 000 Palestinian children have been deprived of being registered as Jerusalemites, followers of their own parents.
The culmination of withdrawing ID cards culminated at the end of 1995 when the Ministry issued orders to revoke the residency rights of every carrier of an Israeli card (Jerusalemites) who were found to live outside the municipal borders. This is done under the cover of the Law of Entry to Israel. The Law has no legal justification and is often ruled by the moods of the staff of the Ministry of Interior. In general, the requirement to prove that Jerusalem is the 'centre of life' is ambiguous and full of gaps which are often exploited by the staff of the Ministry to revoke residency rights of Arab Jerusalemites and deprive them of the social benefits and other entitlements, thus inflicting heavy financial, and health damage.
According to figures released by the Jerusalem Unit For Social and Economic Rights, Israeli authorities have withdrew 4000 ID cards in the last four years. In some cases, residency rights are revoked without the knowledge of the people concerned. The Unit affirmed that 70, 000 Jerusalmites are threatened to be expelled from their own city if the regulation to prove that Jerusalem is one's life centre is totally implemented.
In this context, Israel makes no secrets of its adverse policy which relies on maintaining demographic supremacy in the eastern part of the city and keeping the Arab population restricted to not more than 25%. The Israeli successive governments have allocated big sums of money to hasten the pace of settlement activity in the holy city. They have also formed what came to be called as 'the Jerusalem Fund' headed by the Director General of the Housing Ministry which aims to build an many housing units as possible in Jerusalem. An estimated 110, 000 housing units are expected to be completed By the year 2001 to be able to maintain the demographic balance dedicated to the process of 'Judaization' of the city and consolidating the coercive annexation.
Israeli policies in the city race with time in order to create a reality on the ground prior to the final political settlement. These policies contravene with international laws, agreements and UNSC resolutions which confirm that Jerusalem is an occupied city. Viewed through international standards, Israeli policies and violations have been regarded illegal, illegitimate and discriminatory. As a matter of fact, these policies have divided the city into two parts contrary to the idea of a unified city as Israel has been claiming.
The Jerusalem centre for Social and Cultural rights views these policies as blatant violations to the basic human rights such as the right to housing, freedom of movement and the right to employment. Article 13 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights stipulates that 'Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each State. Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country.' They have also been reiterated in articles 12 B and 12 D in the International Covenant for Social and Cultural Rights.
According to international Law, Israel is an occupying power and Jerusalem is an occupied city. Israel should fulfil the commitments of the agreements including the Fourth Geneva Convention in which Israel is a signatory among 188 states. Israel is bound by the articles l1-22, 27, 29-34, 47, 49, 51, 52, 55, 59, 61-77 of the Convention. International resolution have affirmed the necessity for Israel to comply with the provision articulate in all the international agreements related to Palestine including the city of Jerusalem.
