Center for the Defence of the Individual - For the first time, at 21, a young stateless man who has lived in Jerusalem all his life receives civil status in Israel
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חזרה לעמוד הקודם
09.01.2014

For the first time, at 21, a young stateless man who has lived in Jerusalem all his life receives civil status in Israel

A young Palestinian man, the son of Israeli residents, had no status in Israel. His five siblings are all Israeli residents, but he happened to be born in the al-Birah hospital in the West Bank, where his mother was visiting some relatives, and was left without status. The family has been living in Jerusalem for years, but had, for a time, lived in a house in the Palestinian part of the Qalandiya neighborhood in north Jerusalem.

When he was born, his parents were provided with a notice of birth that did not contain an identity number and he was never registered in the population registry of the West Bank, Israel, or anywhere else. In 1995, when he was four years old, the family applied to have him registered in the Israeli population registry. Israel refused, citing lack of center-of-life in Israel as the reason.

In 2006, after the family moved to the Old City of Jerusalem, they filed another status application for the boy. About two years later, the Ministry of Interior issued a refusal, this time claiming that the application was filed late and that there were discrepancies between what the couple had said and the findings of the investigation the National Insurance Institute (NII) conducted into the family's place of residence in the past.

On November 11, 2008, the family petitioned against the refusal. During the hearing, the state said that given the family's change of address, it would consider a new application filed for the boy. The family agreed to have the petition withdrawn, but in 2010, the state refused the third status application filed for the now young man - again citing vague concerns that the family was still living in Qalandiya.

HaMoked subsequently received the boy's case and on July 20, 2011, filed an application to the Appellate Committee for Foreign Nationals. The committee rejected the application on December 22, 2011, again for reasons related to center-of-life.

On February 7, 2012, HaMoked petitioned the Court for Administrative Affairs, demanding the Ministry of Interior immediately grant the young man Israeli status and that it regulate the processing of cases involving stateless individuals living in Israel. HaMoked disproved the committee's allegations regarding the family's center-of-life, noting that even the strict investigations carried out by the NII showed beyond doubt that the family had been living continuously in the Old City of Jerusalem, at least since 2006. HaMoked also rejected the committee's position that the young man could obtain status as a Palestinian resident of the west bank, both on practical and substantive grounds. The young man's parents and all five of his siblings are Israeli residents, and he himself grew up and went to school in Jerusalem. HaMoked stressed that leaving the young man without status severely impeded his day-to-day life, violated his rights and was a breach of both Israeli and international law.

In its response, the Ministry of Interior insisted that the young man should receive status in the Occupied Palestinian Territories and again raised allegations regarding non-specific information the family had given about its center-of-life in the past. At the hearing, the Court made clear its objection to leaving the young man without status and suggested the parties reach a settlement in which the petitioner would be granted temporary residency for two years, followed by permanent residency. Given the Court's remarks, the State agreed.

The twenty-year struggle came to an end when HaMoked accepted the offer and the Court gave the settlement the force of a judgment. At 21, the young man finally received civil status somewhere. He will now be able to enroll in an academic institution, work legally, get married and do whatever his heart desires without worrying about his status.