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ACRI strongly opposes the Prime Minister’s proposed intention to revoke the status of tens of thousands of East Jerusalem residents who live in neighbourhoods beyond the Separation Wall. Not only is denying residents status unacceptable, immoral and without legal basis; but it is a further intervention into the lives of people living beyond the wall.
The Separation Wall was established ten years ago, and tens of thousands of residents were imprisoned and forgotten on the other side. The decision to place a barrier between them and the rest of the city was made and approved by the Supreme Court, only after the government committed to ensuring that normal life would continue for the residents of those neighbourhoods. In reality, the authorities have made no effort to maintain any semblance of normalcy for these neighbourhoods. The commitments made to the High Court have remained on paper only.
ACRI recently wrote to the Prime Minister demanding that the government fulfil its commitments to these neighborhoods and to the people who live there. ACRI’s letter highlighted serious flaws in the ways that the authorities have operated; including a shortage of public schools, shortage of first responders, a lack of access to water, and other poor and decaying infrastructure.
The government must remember that they cannot simply cancel a resident’s status with the swipe of a pen. ACRI calls on the government to abandon this futile idea and fulfil its obligations to safeguard the rights of all the residents who live beyond the wall.
Click here to read ACRI’s letter to the Prime Minister (in Hebrew).
For more information please contact:
Yaron Kelner
Spokesperson, The Association for Civil Rights in Israel
052-341-0631
