In January 2012,
HaMoked submitted an application to the Ministry of Interior under the Freedom of Information Act, for information on revocations of status of East Jerusalem permanent residents for the year 2011. The application was sent as part of HaMoked's on-going campaign to halt the Israeli policy of
the quiet deportation, implemented against East Jerusalem residents.
HaMoked's previous requests to the interior ministry to reveal the scale of residency revocations were only answered following a protracted legal battle. This time, the interior ministry's Commissioner of Freedom of Information delivered his response within two months.
According to the data from the interior ministry, in 2011, Israel has revoked the residency of 101 East Jerusalem Palestinians, including 51 women and 20 minors; additionally, in 2011, Israel has "reinstated" the residency status of 31 East Jerusalem Palestinians.
Between 1967 and 2011, Israel revoked the status of 14,087 Palestinians from East Jerusalem. HaMoked recalls yet again that the position of East Jerusalem residents is unlike that of other residents – Israel annexed the area concerned, and compelled its inhabitants to become permanent residents of Israel. Their status cannot expire. HaMoked reasserts its position that in the matter of East Jerusalem residents – for whom this piece of land is home – it must be stipulated that their permits to reside in Israel can never expire, regardless of any length of stay abroad or the acquisition of status in another country.
