Israeli Move on Quds Residency Sparks Global Outrage
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Palestinians and rights activists reacted with anger to the passing of a controversial bill in the Israeli parliament (Knesset) that will allow Israeli authorities to strip Palestinians living in al-Quds (Jerusalem) of their right to live there.
Residency documents belonging to any Palestinian deemed to be a threat to the Israeli regime can be seized by the ministry of the interior under the new measures, which went to a vote on Wednesday, Independent reported.
An amendment to the bill, called “breach of loyalty”, which was first proposed in September, also means the Supreme Court will be unable to challenge any interior ministry rulings.
It will also apply to Palestinians who are believed to have falsely claimed residence.
The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) called the vaguely worded new legislation “deeply racist”.
“By unethically stripping the residency of Palestinians from Quds and depriving the rights of those Palestinians to remain in their own city, the Israeli government is acting in defiance of international law and is violating international human rights and humanitarian laws,“ senior PLO member Hanan Ashrawi said in a statement.
In a statement released on Saturday, the Turkish Foreign Ministry condemned the Israeli legislation, saying the permanent residency of thousands of Quds Palestinians had been revoked since the Israeli occupation in 1967.
"We reject this illegitimate step that reveals Israel's intention to increase efforts to change the demography of East Quds, disregarding the basic human rights of Palestinians,” the statement read.
Additionally on Saturday, Qatar described the Israeli parliament’s vote for the contentious law as unethical, saying the legislature had completely disregarded international rules, humanitarian law and UN conventions.
The Qatari Foreign Ministry urged the international community to shoulder its responsibility and stop repeated Israeli violations of the Palestinian rights, stressing that such moves would undermine international efforts towards the so-called two-state solution.
It further stressed Doha's full support for the Palestinians’ legitimate right to self-determination and the establishment of an independent state on the 1967 borders with East Quds as its capital.
Earlier this week, the European Union warned that the Israeli legislation would make the lives of Palestinians “even more precarious than it already is today.”
"The new law could be used to further compromise the Palestinian presence in East Jerusalem, which would further undermine the prospects of a [so-called] two-state solution," the EU’s External Action Service said in a statement.
“In line with international law, the European Union does not recognize Israel’s sovereignty over the territories occupied by Israel since June 1967, including East Jerusalem, and does not consider them to be part of Israel’s territory, irrespective of their legal status under domestic Israeli law,” it added.