Permanent Residency: A Temporary Status Set in Stone

01/06/2012

Israel de facto annexed East Jerusalem but not its inhabitants. The Israeli state applied Israeli law, jurisdiction and administration to East Jerusalem, granting it "full citizenship" status. It even guaranteed its jurisdiction over East Jerusalem by passing the ‘Basic Law: Jerusalem, Capital of Israel’, making it extremely difficult for any future government to cede territory in East Jerusalem. And yet, Israel did not grant citizenship rights to East Jerusalem’s Palestinian residents. These are not immigrants to Israel but native Jerusalemites who live their lives in this city. Today, one third of Jerusalem's residents live without citizenship, they live under a political structure that claims their land but does not accept them along with it.