The
petitioners are two Palestinian youths born in the Gaza Strip, who moved with their parents to the West Bank when they were toddlers. Although the two have been living in the West Bank for over 15 years, Israel – as part of its policy of
separating between the Gaza Strip and the West Bank – persistently refuses to permit the update of their address listings so as to reflect reality, which would lift the threat of deportation to Gaza hanging over them. Instead, Israel compels them to live as strangers in their own country, subject to "stay permits" they must repeatedly renewed. Only after three years of living with stay-permits, the military commander may consider whether to acknowledge their residence in their home and land as "legal", and give them permanent status in the West Bank.
In its
position paper published today, HaMoked criticizes this arrangement, and calls on Israel to allow Palestinians to exercise their right to freely choose where to live. HaMoked asserts that as Israel itself has recognized the integral unity of the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT), it is unacceptable that a Palestinian's residence in an integral part of his or her own country would be subject to receipt of stay permits, like an immigrant or tourist.
The court hearing was originally scheduled for May 26, 2014, but has recently been postponed to November 2014.
