http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/middle_east/newsid_172000/172210.stm
Tuesday, September 15, 1998 Published at 20:35 GMT 21:35 UK
Israel 'quietly deporting' Palestinians
BBC ONLINE NETWORK
Israeli human rights groups have accused the government of
systematically changing the demographics of East Jerusalem, by
continuing to deport Palestinians from there.
Two respected organisations - B'tselem and
Hamoked - accused the Israeli Government of
using what they call the veneer of legality to
achieve what other governments have done
more blatantly.
They say it is a systematic and deliberate
discrimination against Palestinians with one simple aim: to reduce
Jerusalem's Palestinian population and preserve its Jewish majority.
Controversial policy
Middle East correspondent Paul Adams says the policy first introduced
in 1995 has now robbed thousands of Palestinians of their right to live
in Jerusalem.
In 1997, 606 Palestinians lost
residency benefits and, in the first
three months of 1998, 187
Palestinians also lost permits.
Those who remain, do so illegally,
with no rights whatsoever.
Israel says it is merely clamping down
on those who have chosen at one
time or another to live elsewhere.
'Quiet deportation'
Eitan Felner, of B'tselem, said
Israel's policy has one sole objective:
"To reduce the number of
Palestinians residing in the city and
preserving a conclusive Jewish
majority so it will be impossible to
question Israel's sovereignty over all
parts of the city."
He called that a "quiet deportation".
The correspondent in Jerusalem says that a variety of bureaucratic
measures make life intolerable for Palestinians who regard Jerusalem as
their home.
- Access to health care is denied
- New-born babies are not registered
- Women who marry non-Jerusalem residents lose their own
right to live there
Unwilling to abet Israeli policy, the Palestinian authority seems reluctant
to grant residency in territory under its control.
The result for thousands of Palestinians is a state of limbo in the land
of their birth, our correspondent says.
Call for official justification
The Israeli Government disputes the figures in the report.
In 1997 the Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu had said his
government would look into the policy.
The two human rights groups said the high court has demanded for the
first time an official justification for the deportations.
The government is expected to give its response in the next few days.
Occupied territory
Israel annexed east Jerusalem from Jordan in 1967.
Since then, Israel has built 40,000 public housing units and settled
some 170,000 Jews in the sector, and new settlements are planned.
