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Photo:
Israeli soldiers in Occupied Jerusalem. File? Published by IMEMC News

A bird's eye view of an East Jerusalem neighborhood. Credit: Moti Milrod. Published by Haaretz in 2022
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by IMEMC News
Feb 24, 2025

The Israeli Defense Ministry, on Sunday, demanded the deportation of twenty Indigenous Jerusalemite Palestinian families from the city and the revocation of their ID card or “Israeli citizenships,” (if they have citizenship), Maan News Agency said.

In November 2024, the Israeli Knesset approved a bill that mandates the “expulsion of family members of individuals who carry out attacks against Israeli targets” if they had prior knowledge of the operation or glorified and supported the attacks after its execution.

According to the law, the deportation order for an “Israeli citizen” is not less than 7 years and not more than 15 years, and in the case of a “permanent or temporary resident,” it is not less than 10 years and not more than 20 years.

The Israeli police are preparing a list that includes information about Palestinian political prisoners who were released in the prisoner-swap agreement and their families, to determine if any “support or endorsement has occurred.”

The occupation authorities have taken measures to deport the freed detainee Yazan Froukh, the son of the freed detainee Mohamed Froukh, who was sentenced to 19 years in prison and released in the prisoner-swap agreement last month. The request for his deportation was submitted on February 12, 2025.

Another request was submitted on February 15, 2025, against the brother of the freed Jerusalemite detainee Nawal Fteiha, who was abducted in 2020 and sentenced to 8 years in prison, and was released in the prisoner-swap deal last month.

Ten days ago, Israeli Interior Minister Moshe Arbel decided to deport three Indigenous Jerusalemite Palestinians from the city of Jerusalem on the grounds of “supporting and endorsing terrorism.”

Those threatened with deportation are: Tasneem Awda, the daughter of Barakat Awda who was killed in 2022 after reportedly carrying out a ramming attack, detainee Mohammad Abu Hawwa, the brother of Adam Abu Hawwa who was killed in 2023 after allegedly carrying out a stabbing attack, and freed detainee Zeina Barber (freed in the prisoner-swap agreement), the daughter of freed detainee Majd Barber who spent 20 years in prison.

Unlike Jewish residents of Jerusalem who are granted citizenship upon their birth, only about 5% of Jerusalemite Palestinians hold Israeli citizenship, whereas the majority are classified as “permanent residents.”

This status distinction significantly impacts their rights and political representation within the city. In many cases, it has also led to individuals being stripped of their residency and subsequently deported from the city.

One example is Palestinian-French lawyer, Salah Hammouri, 37, who was held under Administrative Detention without charges or trial, before Israel revoked his Jerusalem ID card and stripped him of all residency rights in occupied Jerusalem, and deporting him to France.

Hammouri, a lawyer and a field researcher with the Ad-Dameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association, spent more than eight years in Israeli prisons, starting when he was abducted in 2001 and was sentenced to five months in prison.
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Just 5 Percent of E. Jerusalem Palestinians Have Received Israeli Citizenship Since 1967

Since 1967, over 14,000 Palestinians living in East Jerusalem have had their residency status revoked, something that cannot be done to citizens

by Nir Hasson for Haaretz
May 29, 2022

Only 5 percent of Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem – 18,982 people – have obtained Israeli citizenship since the city was reunified in 1967.

The figure comes from a response by Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked to a parliamentary inquiry from MK Mossi Raz of Meretz.

Only 34 percent of naturalization applications submitted by Palestinians living in East Jerusalem are approved, and in many cases final approval takes years.

The response disclosed for the first time the complete data regarding the naturalization of this group, citizenship by Palestinians living in Jerusalem, showing that in most years the numbers were negligible.

In the first years after reunification following Israel’s capture of East Jerusalem in the Six-Day War, from 1970-74, hundreds of people obtained citizenship each year. The numbers dropped sharply in 1975-2004, with at most a few dozen East Jerusalem Palestinians completing the process each year. A slight rise in applications began in 2005 and peaked in 2019, when 2,372 Palestinians from East Jerusalem became Israeli citizens. This was followed by a decline, with only 1,304 naturalized citizens in 2021 and just 219 in the year to date.

Amnon Ramon of the Jerusalem Institute for Policy Research studies the legal status of East Jerusalem residents. He attributes the rise in the 1970s to lax Israeli policy after the 1967 war and says that most of the East Jerusalem Palestinians who obtained Israeli citizenship were city employees, police officers, businessmen and collaborators with the Israeli authorities. In subsequent years, applying for citizenship became taboo in Palestinian society, perceived as an acceptance of the occupation and as collaboration.

Ramon explains that the change that’s occurred over the last 17 years derives from the deep changes taking place in the city’s Palestinian society. The barrier separating them from residents of the West Bank as well as changes in the education and employment markets have driven many residents to reconsider applying for Israeli citizenship. The social taboo on this has also eroded. It is no longer considered an act that detracts from one’s Palestinian nationality.

However, the Interior Ministry’s Population and Immigration Authority has made the process more difficult. Over the past 20 years, only 38 percent of the 16,573 applications have been approved. The main reason cited for denial was failure to prove that Jerusalem was their primary place of residence and employment. Additional reasons include the lack of Hebrew language skills, refusal to renounce Jordanian citizenship, criminal background or security impediments.

The stringent policy is expressed in the number of Israeli citizens among Palestinians living in East Jerusalem. Fifty-five years after the city was unified, Palestinians account for 39 percent of the population but fewer than 5 percent of them are Israeli citizens.

The lack of Israeli citizenship has many implications. Without it, East Jerusalem Palestinians cannot vote in Israeli legislative elections or obtain an Israeli passport. To travel abroad they must apply for a temporary travel document (laissez passer). Some jobs are not open to non-citizens. Most importantly, their residency status can be revoked, unlike citizens. This has happened to over 14,000 Palestinians since 1967, mostly due to information showing that the center of their life was not in Jerusalem. With the loss of resident status, they lose their health insurance, livelihood and even the right to enter Jerusalem.

Over the years, the Interior Ministry has given various and sundry reasons for denying citizenship to Palestinians. This includes a family member owning land or having an electricity bill in the West Bank, or a failed short Hebrew test, or a small criminal file that was closed years ago. In one case, a person was denied because his wife, who is an Israeli citizen, published a post that mentioned the Nakba. Another person was denied because their social media profile photo showed a Palestinian flag, even though there was an Israeli flag alongside it. For many years, the ministry ignored a clause making the process easier by allowing for an expedited process for people under 21, denying applications made on the basis of this clause.

“Some people say that we’re simply trying to enjoy equal rights, or wish to go overseas with a passport. Some people say they want to vote. Many say they don’t want their children to suffer from the difficulties they went through,” says Adi Lustigman, a lawyer who represents many Palestinians seeking Israeli citizenship. “They want to know they’re giving their children a better future. … Citizenship confers security in a world in which there is none without citizenship,” she says.