Displacement risk for Palestinians in East Jerusalem
JERUSALEM, 17 January 2011 (IRIN): UN agencies and European Union (EU) officials in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt) are calling for the implementation of international humanitarian law to protect the Palestinian population in East Jerusalem from forced displacement.
They say, that East Jerusalem is occupied territory (by Israel), requiring protection of the civilian population by international humanitarian law, a legal framework which prohibits population transfer into and out of the territory.
Israel says property transfers in East Jerusalem are private transactions governed by Israeli local municipal law. Today East Jerusalem, annexed by Israel in 1967, is governed by Israeli basic law.
Between 5 and 11 January the Israeli authorities demolished (nedrev) five Palestinian-owned structures in East Jerusalem because they did not have Israeli-issued building permits, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
Because of inadequate zoning and planning for Palestinians, obtaining a building permit from the Israeli authorities in East Jerusalem is almost impossible, says OCHA. Restrictions prevent Palestinians from lawfully repairing or constructing homes, water systems and other necessary infrastructure.
Meanwhile, there are at least 1.500 pending demolition orders in East Jerusalem, potentially affecting the livelihoods of thousands.
– Transfer of property and buildings in East Jerusalem should be regulated by the provisions of the fourth Geneva convention, said Ghassan Khatib, a representative from Palestinian prime minister Salam Fayad’s office.
But it is unclear how international law could be implemented when some 195.000 Israeli citizens (so-called “settlers”) live in East Jerusalem, out of a total of 500.000 “settlers” in occupied Palestinian land, according to OCHA estimates.
– The quarter of a million people living in suburban communities of Jerusalem, so-called settlements, will remain, said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, speaking about a potential settlement agreement between Israelis and Palestinians on 11 January.
– We have hundreds of Arab residences in Jewish neighbourhoods and we cannot ban Israelis from purchasing property in Arab areas and vice-versa, he said.
According to the December 2010 Jerusalem Report authored by 25 heads of mission from the EU in Jerusalem and Ramallah, “successive Israeli governments have pursued a policy of transferring Jews into oPt in violation of the fourth Geneva convention and international humanitarian law.”
In East Jerusalem 35 percent of the land has been expropriated for “state land”. Palestinians living in Jerusalem only hold ID cards and are prohibited from buying property.
Today some 924.000 people live within the municipal boundaries of Jerusalem, of whom around 277.000 are Palestinian, according to the EU report.
The US says the status of Jerusalem must be resolved between Israelis and Palestinians, and has warned both parties not to change the situation on the ground outside a formal negotiating process.
Meanwhile, the number of displaced and affected persons in East Jerusalem is increasing, weakening economic and social stability.
Shepherd Hotel
Læs videre på http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportID=91648
Se også
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=37287&Cr=palestin&Cr1=
