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A GAZA-BORN woman recently sneaked into her native land through a smugglers’ tunnel because the legal route was blocked. A car mechanic who settled in the West Bank 15 years ago to raise a family lives in fear of deportation because his ID card says he’s originally from Gaza.
They are among thousands of Palestinians who the New York-based Human Rights Watch says have had their lives disrupted by Israeli restrictions on residency in the West Bank and Gaza, territories captured by Israel in the June 1967 Mideast war and sought for a Palestinian state.
In a 90-page report released today, Human Rights Watch called on Israel to lift restrictions on residency, saying they are often arbitrary and violate international and human rights law, including the right to family life.
“The result has been to split families apart, to arbitrarily ban people from moving around and to arbitrarily prevent a large number of people from returning to their own homes,” said the report’s author, Bill Van Esveld.
HRW said about 35,000 Gazans who moved to the West Bank remain there without permits, while Israel last year agreed to register 2,800 as West Bank residents.
The US government estimates that about 2.5 million Palestinians live in the West Bank and 1.6 million in Gaza.
Israel handed some 40 per cent of the West Bank to Palestinian self-rule in the 1990s and withdrew from Gaza in 2005, but never relinquished the final say over who is a legal resident of the territories. Israel has cited security grounds for retaining the right to block entry.
Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev said Israel has granted residency in the West Bank and Gaza to tens of thousands of Palestinians over the years and accused Human Rights Watch of anti-Israel bias.
He said Israel’s policies are subject to review “by a fiercely independent judiciary.”
(Video via HumanRightsWatch)
Israel set up the register after a September 1967 census in the West Bank and Gaza, issuing ID cards to nearly 1 million Palestinians. Human Right Watch said at least 270,000 residents were not present during the census, having either fled the war three months earlier or spending time abroad for work or study.
Israel excluded them from the registry and blocked the possibility of return for many, the report said.
A woman known as Umm Basel, born in Gaza in 1967, said her parents fled to Jordan before the census. After life in exile in Egypt and Jordan, neither of which granted her citizenship, she paid smugglers $200 three months ago to sneak her and her son into Gaza through a tunnel. She has since applied to Israel for a Gaza residency permit, but has received no word the request is being processed. She would not give her full name for fear of repercussions.
Egypt shares a border with Gaza and largely limits passage to those with Palestinians with Israeli-approved ID cards.
Israel’s policy on residency rights has fluctuated, along with the ebb and flow of the conflict.
Israel has in principle allowed those with ID cards to apply for residency for spouses or children, and over the years, tens of thousands of such requests were granted. However, huge backlogs built up, especially at times of tension, and Israel also stripped tens of thousands of their residency on grounds they had stayed abroad too long, the report said.
In a related issue, Israel has banned virtually all Palestinian travel between the West Bank and Gaza since the outbreak of a Palestinian uprising in 2000, citing security. The two territories, on opposite sides of Israel, are considered one entity by the international community.
Separated
Hussein al-Ustaz, a Gazan man who moved to the West Bank before the travel ban went into effect, remains an “illegal alien” even though he married a local woman and they have six children.
His ID card identifies the 34-year-old as a Gaza resident and Israeli authorities have so far refused to change his registration to the West Bank. If stopped at an Israeli checkpoint, he could face arrest and deportation to Gaza.
Al-Ustaz said he misses his parents and eight siblings. “My sisters have all married, and I haven’t seen them. My brother was killed in Gaza during an Israeli incursion in 2006. I didn’t go to the funeral,” he said.
Regev charged that the group has obsessively focused on Israel, was criticised for this by its founder in 2009 and that it had used anti-Israel activity to raise funds from Saudi Arabia’s autocratic regime.
Van Esveld said the group has done far fewer reports on Israel than on other countries in the Middle East.
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Vincent Brown is an excellent interviewer. No wonder many politicians wish to avoid him e.g. Gerry Adams.
Enda Kenny is scared shitless of Vincent Brown .
Actually at times he comes across as a bully. Especially last week when he was supposed to interviewing an ex British Army officer who served in Afgahnistan on the security situation in the ME and proceeded to verbally assault and berate him for decisions taken by his govt. that he had no input into whatsoever. It was obvious he had been set up for an ambush by Browne. Shameful stuff.
considering all the British Army ambushes in Ireland or “terrorist attacks” as they called them at the time then was this not Karma from Mr. Browne ?
Northern Ireland – Proof the U.N. is an over-paid waffle shop for the bewildered !
Enda Kenny is scared of his own reflection……
Some say his own reflection doesn’t even like him…
And what will happen in the end is that Browne’s show will suffer for his ambush tactics, as he’ll struggle to get high profile guests. Instead he’ll be stuck interviewing clowns from People before Profit or the AAA.
Scipio, do you just complain about everything?
Vincent Browne has reduced himself to the level of an political Jeremy Kyle. No serious politician will ever go on his show unless it’s absolutely necessary.
Skippy is bang on the money, he’s already the level where his staple guests are irrelevant nutters like Joe Higgins, Declan Ganley and that PBP fool in the checked shirt.
Yet he still draws in big names in Irish politics and culture, draws in over 160,000 viewers in one of the worst slots and is good enough to be compared to Jeremy Paxman by the Guardian. Jon Snow of Channel 4 News is often called a bully, yet he’s still one of the most highly respected British journalists and Channel 4 has few problems drawing in highly significant people for interviews, even when the interviewees are at their most vulnerable. Basically, your claims have nothing to support them
You know his show is online right? I can actually open it up in my browser and sit here asking myself who are these people. Some of them are only there because they have twitter accounts.
It’s kinda like government backbenchers isn’t Ron ? …Who are these people all they have is Party Support …….
Has he had Twink on yet? It’s only a matter of time.
Yeah Twink would certainly qualify as one of those leading lights of Irish culture that ‘Free Gaza’ was talking about.
No she sticks to R.T.E. – just like Fianna Fail, Fine Gael and Labour – Sinn Fein were banned from R.T.E. during the British Army “Terror with terror” (their own words) campaign until Paddy decided to call of the Grand National and we got to see all the posh British crying because their horseys couldn’t run around a field …
That was funny – and no bomb at all, at all ……
Scipio – Anyone who opens a comment with ‘you are an idiot’ , has clearly already lost the argument .
Except if they’re obviously addressing an idiot.
Scipio, completely misquoting me yet again. Never said anything about the leading lights of Irish culture. I simply said that Vincent Browne consistently has big enough names when it comes to the Irish context. I don’t know half the people on Frontline, the Late Late Show, Question Time or Newsnight most of the time so that’s hardly a measure of the presenter’s/interviewer’s credibility and skill. There are over 220 politicians at a national level in Ireland, plus almost a thousand at local level, never mind all the other politicians and activists across the island.
Ron mentioned the “irrelevant nutters” that appear on his show, yet we all know who Joe Higgins and Declan Ganley are, what they stand for and we actually pay some sort of attention to what they say or do, whether we take them seriously or not.
The fact that Fianna Fail, Fine Gael, Labour and the lovely Twink all stick to RTE supports the point that Skippy was making Dermot.
Section 31 and ‘horseys’ are not relevant to this conversation..
Brown completely demolished Joan when she was on the show with Joe Higgins. She has never been on it since!
Nor has anyone else of consequence.
Seriously do any of you think Kenny or any of his likes would have the neck to go on Vincent Browne ..I don’t ..he is actually excellent at not letting his “guests” off the hook …id love to see Kenny.try to worm his way out of his broken election vows
This is just more proof of his legend status .
Answer the question to quote ..Vincent
Vincent would eat Enda for breakfast and Enda knows it.
Big fan of him. And he can have a bit of craic too.
Brown a big bully
he’s fantastic takes no shite .
I am so sick of fools calling people irrelevant just cause they’re not in the big four parties. Its toxic to democracy to regard deviation from mainstream politics as laughable or irrelevant. And of course there’s always this feeling its being done to stamp out opposition to those mainstream policies through snide laughter and ridicule
I agree with Sean bent above about the main parties but I would say 3.
The vincent Browne’s and George Hook’s of this country like the status quo and are scared shitless of Sinn Fein coming to power.
They knock them absoultely every chance they get.
Gerry, hook doesn’t deserve to be mentioned in the same sentence as Vincent Brown. He’s a rugby commentator and I see very little intellect.
UTV ireland is fast approaching. TV3 and VINB be afraid, be very afraid.
Enda would be afraid of Fionnán Sheehan.
Yeah the same few politicians on his show like thomas byrne going on about t’frozen chips. Bloody hell.
That was a very important insight into the cluelessness of the economic policies of Fianna fail – that and the fact that irish people had been calling for it for years while they made Frozen Pizzas in Galway for years !
Vincent for president
J-J-JUST ANSWER THE BLOODY QUESTION
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