Israel Redefines, Divides East Jerusalem Palestinians
Israel's policies toward east Jerusalem Palestinians are another form of "divide and conquer," writes Geoffrey Aronson.
Israel has just announced a new policy regarding the rights of Palestinians with Jerusalem ID cards who find themselves living in homes outside the municipal borders of the city, but on the Israeli side of the separation barrier.
Israel’s Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein has ordered an end to the revocation of social welfare rights of these “Jerusalem Palestinians.” The decision affects about 5,000 people, who will once again the enjoy the health and welfare advantages of the coveted “blue identity card” granted to Palestinians living in “east” Jerusalem, an “inseparable” part of Israel’s “eternal capital.”
The extension of Israeli law and justice were extended to east Jerusalem by an Israeli fiat within days of Israel’s June 1967 victory. The new east Jerusalem established by this unilateral move was half again as large as east Jerusalem under Jordanian rule. It reflected both an Israeli projection of its territorial interests and confidence in its ability to divide and rule over Palestinians living under occupation.
The Palestinians who fit Israel’s definition of east Jerusalem residency have long enjoyed advantages most other Palestinians living under occupation can only dream about. They can travel unhindered throughout the West Bank, shop in the malls of West Jerusalem, travel to see family in Lod, do business in Jaffa, and enjoy a day at the beach with their kids in Tel Aviv. Since 1990, these elementary, vital pleasures of movement and access have been progressively denied to Palestinians living anywhere but east Jerusalem. Their ability to travel and work, farm their lands or market their produce, is tied inextricably to an Israel’s arbitrary reflection of its own interests.
