Rabat - Israel has evicted nearly 15,000 Palestinians from Jerusalem and stripped them of the right to live in their home city, a move which Human Rights Watch warned could be a “war crime.”
Rabat – Israel has evicted nearly 15,000 Palestinians from Jerusalem and stripped them of the right to live in their home city, a move which Human Rights Watch warned could be a “war crime.”
“Israel claims to treat Jerusalem as a unified city, but the reality is effectively one set of rules for Jews and another for Palestinians,” asserted Sarah Leah Whitson, HRW’s Middle East director, in a report.
Israel occupied East Jerusalem during the 1967 Six-Day War, in a move that was never officially acknowledged as legitimate by the international community.
More than 300,000 Palestinians there have permanent residency status but do not hold Israeli nationality. While most do not view it as recognition of Israeli sovereignty, East Jerusalem residents are still allowed to apply for citizenship.
Since 1967, 14,595 Palestinians have had their residency status revoked, effectively preventing them from remaining in the city of their birth, according to a HRW report citing interior ministry figures.
