Palestine: 1) Whether a Palestinian formerly residing in East Jerusalem who had his Israeli identity card revoked is able to live in the West Bank or the Gaza Strip; 1.1) if so, whether s/he needs prior approval from the Israeli government and/or Palestinian Authority; 1.2) how one obtains such approval and whether there are documents that must be provided; 2) the rights and obligations attached to a West Bank /Gaza Strip identity card issued by the Palestinian Authority; 2.1) whether this card entitles the bearer to live, work, vote, and freely enter and leave the Occupied Territory; 3) the circumstances under which the Palestinian Authority issues identity cards; 3.1) whether identity cards can be issued to a Palestinian former resident of East Jerusalem whose Israeli identity card has been confiscated

Essential for the contextual understanding of this complex issue is the documentary material provided in the attachments of this RIR. For information on issues related to residency rights in the West Bank and Gaza under the PA, please consult the attached Palestinian Residency Rights in the Self Rule Areas Three Year After Partial Israeli Redeployment by Manal Jamal and Buthaina Darwish from the organization Badil. Please also consult a September 1998 report by B'tselem entitled The Quiet Deportation Continues: Revocation of Residency and Denial of Social Rights of East Jerusalem Palestinians.

The following information on the status of Palestinian residents of East-Jerusalem and, specifically, on Palestinians Jerusalimites holding an Israeli identity card, was provided by three human rights organizations located in Jerusalem and Bethleem. These organizations are: B'tselem (17 Jan. 1999), Badil: Resource Center for Palestinian Residency & Refugee Rights (13 Jan. 1999), and the Palestinian Human Rights Monitoring Group (PHRMG) (13 Jan. 1999).

General Description of the Identity Cards

        After the Six Day War of June 1967, the Palestinian areas were divided into three parts; the West Bank, Jerusalem, and Gaza Strip (PHRMG  13 Jan. 1999). Residency in these three parts required an identity card with a different colour to facilitate identification and administrative processing (ibid.). For example, an orange card was selected for West Bank residents, a blue card was given to Palestinians living in Jerusalem (ibid.; Badil  13 Jan. 1999; B'tselem  17 Jan. 1999). A green identity card was given to Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip (PHRMG  13 Jan. 1999).

The Blue Identity Card

        The three NGOs stated all Palestinians residents of Jerusalem have blue identity cards (13 Jan. 1999; 13 Jan. 1999; 17 Jan. 1999). Badil added that blue coloured identity cards includes "all citizens and permanent residents registered as such in the territory which Israeli has defined as its state territory (including occupied and annexed East Jerusalem)" (13 Jan. 1999). The PHRMG concludes that Palestinians living in Jerusalem are considered permanent residents, not citizens of the State of Israel (13 Jan. 1999).

The Orange Identity Card

        According to B'tselem, the bearer of an orange identity card is not considered a resident of East Jerusalem, but rather a resident of the Occupied Territories (West Bank or Gaza) (17 Jan. 1999). B'tselem provides an example where the holder of an orange identity card could live in Jerusalem,

In a few cases, Israel has annexed a village, or part of a village, into the Jerusalem municipal boundaries, but has not recognized its residents as Jerusalem residents. Thus, for example, residents of part of Walajeh and the village of Beit Ona have orange identity cards, although their homes are considered part of Jerusalem (ibid.).

Badil provides additional details. Orange identity cards were issued by the Israeli military government to Palestinians residing in the occupied territories of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip (Badil  13 Jan. 1999). Palestinians holding orange identity card are not allowed to live legally (i.e. register their address) inside the Israeli state territory (including 1967 annexed East Jerusalem) (ibid.). Badil concludes that

all Palestinians holding orange colored identity cards and living in East Jerusalem, are doing so illegally according to Israeli law (ibid.).

The Green Identity Cards

    Badil indicates that following the first (1994 in Gaza) and second (West Bank in 1995) Israeli redeployment as part of the agreements signed between Israel and the PLO, the Palestinian Authority (PA) began to issue green identity cards to those who used to hold the orange colored identity cards (i.e., Palestinian residents of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip). The new green PA identity cards are issued following requests submitted to the PA Interior Ministry by the holders of the old, orange identity card. Since not all Palestinian residents of the West Bank/Gaza Strip have submitted such a request, there are still people who carry the old, orange identity cards.

Based on the Israeli-Palestinian agreements, the PA is authorized to receive applications for new identity cards, to print application forms and the identity cards, and to distribute the new identity cards following their approval (Badil  13 Jan. 1999). However, the PA has no decision making authority regarding who will receive an identity card in the West Bank and Gaza Strip due to the unresolved questions of borders and refugees which are part of the final status talks. All applications for the new PA green identity card must be approved by Israel based on the old population registry. The serial number on the new identity card is the same as the Israeli serial number on the old, orange identity card.

The PHRMG indicates that the difference between the blue, the orange and the green card is that the Jerusalemite (blue card holder) had more rights than those accorded to orange and green identity cards (13 Jan. 1999). Holding a blue identity card provides  many privileges such as health insurance. During the Palestinian Uprising (Intifada) this difference was very obvious, especially in 1991 when a closure was forced on the Occupied Territories. The owner of a green or orange identity card required a permit to work, enter, or stay over night in Israel, while the holder of a blue identity card did not.

1) Residency Rights and Revocation of the Blue Identity Cards

    The three sources agree that the revocation of the blue identity card does not prevent Palestinians from residing in the West Bank or Gaza, or to illegally remain in Jerusalem. According to Badil, one can live in the West Bank without valid residency documents, "because in most cases identity card confiscation does not mean that a person's identity card is physically taken away, but it means that his/her number is cancelled from the Israeli population registry" (13 Jan. 1999). The PA does not follow the policy of checking whether a person's Jerusalem identity card is still valid (and Badil finds it doubtful whether the PA could do it because Israel has not provided the PA its population registry) (ibid.). Therefore, "holders of Jerusalem identity cards that are no longer valid in Israeli terms, do not appear as such, and are able to undertake certain vital transactions (e.g. purchasing/renting property in the PA areas, signing legal/business contracts, registering their children in PA operated schools, etc.)" in the PA areas (ibid.). They no longer can obtain documents for traveling abroad (PA passport, Israeli laissez-passer), and they are prevented from registering their children and property in Jerusalem as well as being excluded from Israeli state welfare services (ibid.).

B'tselem stated that they were not aware of incidents where the Israeli authorities have actually evicted residents living in Jerusalem without proper identity cards (ibid.). B'tselem does recognize that a Palestinian residing in Jerusalem without valid identification faces "difficulties, particularly during periods of total closure, when the individual will not be able to cross between the West Bank and Jerusalem" (ibid.). The organization states that

A person who loses a Jerusalem identity card, can also live in the West Bank, but again without any formal identity card and without receiving services (ibid.).

The Israeli policy of identity card confiscation on a massive scale has been effective for the last three years (Badil  13 Jan. 1999). Palestinians who have had their blue identity card revoked or confiscated are still trying to protest the Israeli decision either via the courts, or simply by remaining "illegally in Jerusalem" (ibid.). Palestinians living "illegally" in Jerusalem and who have no chance of remaining in the city and who have homes in the West Bank, Jordan, or elsewhere, continue to live in Jerusalem with whatever residency documents they possess (i.e., Jordanian passport, residency/citizenship documents of the respective country) (ibid.). Palestinians from Jerusalem without proper residency documents can also live in the West Bank.

1.1) Who Approves Residency in the West Bank and Gaza

    B'tselem states that in theory, Palestinians who had their Jerusalem residency rights revoked and who wish to live legally in the West Bank can apply to the PA for an identity card (17 Jan. 1999). In practice, many Palestinians live in the West Bank without identity cards because the PA does not enforce this regulation (ibid.). Doing so would mean that the PA recognizes the revocation of residency of East Jerusalem Palestinians, a policy that it cannot accept (ibid.). For these reasons the PA usually refuses to process requests for identity cards from Palestinian Jerusalem residents (ibid.). Badil indicates that it is currently "extremely rare that a victim of identity card confiscation would actually apply for a PA identity card, because this would represent a de-facto acceptance of the Israeli policy" (13 Jan. 1999). The PHRMG corroborates this assessment when stating that "the PA refused to give them [identity card] as a sort of pressure on Israel so that their original [identity card] be returned to them" (13 Jan. 1999). B'tselem adds that most "former" Jerusalem residents also do not request identity cards, for the same political reasons (17 Jan. 1999). As clearly stated by the PHRMG, "a person whose blue identity card was confiscated needs an approval from the Israeli authorities" to renew it (13 Jan. 1999). 

1.2) How to Obtain an Approval of Residency in the West Bank and Gaza

    According to Badil and B'tselm, there is little concrete information regarding the procedure to be followed by persons whose Jerusalem identity card was confiscated and who want to apply for a new, PA identity card (13 Jan. 1999; 17 Jan. 1999). Israel does not oppose the PA providing identification to "former" Palestinian residents of Jerusalem (Badil  13 Jan. 1999). However, the PA has not issued instructions on this issue because it opposes the policy of identity card confiscations (ibid.). Badil stated that "if a person really needs a new PA identity card, he/she can probably obtain one by submitting his personal documents (birth certificate, marriage certificate, old Jerusalem identity card) to the PA Interior Ministry" (ibid.). The Ministry would then take this application to the Israeli-Palestinian Liaison Committee for Civil Affairs, where Israel would probably approve the request (Badil  13 Jan. 1999; B'tslem  17 Jan. 1999).

2. Rights and Obligations Attached to a PA-Issued Identity Card

    B'tselem and Badil indicates that an identity card issued by the PA entitled its holders to live, work and vote in the PA elections, to own and to bequeath property (17 Jan. 1999; 13 Jan. 1999). The PA-issued identity card appears to be identical to an orange identity card issued by Israel (B'tselem  13 Jan. 1999). The PA has only recently begun to issue identity cards (ibid.). The PHRMG adds that the PA identity card provides the bearer "the right to do anything strictly within PA areas" (13 Jan. 1999).

According to Badil, in order to travel abroad, bearers of the PA identity cards must obtain a PA passport (13 Jan. 1999). The procedure for the issuance of the PA passport is the same as the one in place for PA identity-cards: Israel must approve the application for a passport and registers its serial number (ibid.; B'tselem  17 Jan. 1999). Israeli approval is required because Israel still controls the external borders of the PA areas, an issue that will be resolved during the Final Status Talks (ibid.; PHRMG  13 Jan. 1999). As B'tselem reports,

Israel may impose a total closure which prevents all Palestinians from leaving the Occupied Territories to enter Israel or to cross through Israel to move between the West Bank and Gaza. Israel may also prevent an individual Palestinian from leaving the Occupied Territories to travel abroad, for reasons which are not provided to the individual (17 Jan. 1999).

There are numerous cases of persons, holders of PA identity cards, whose requests for passports have been denied or who have been prevented from travelling abroad by the Israeli border police (Badil  13 Jan. 1999). The same holds true for incoming residents: they may be prevented from entry and/or arrested by the Israeli border police for alleged security reasons (ibid.). The PHRMG further adds that despite Israeli refusals to grant the right to cross borders, the PA started issuing identity cards to Palestinians who had their blue identity card revoked (13 Jan. 1999). The people who obtained PA identity cards without Israeli approval are in fact unable to exit the occupied territories because their identity numbers do not exist on the Israeli computer system (ibid.).

With regard to travel between the West Bank and Gaza, Badil and the PHRMG indicates that the bearers of PA identity cards are not permitted to move freely (13 Jan. 1999). Holders of the PA identity card must obtain a special Israeli permit to enter East Jerusalem, a request  frequently denied (Badil  13 Jan. 1999). West Bank residents must obtain a special Israeli permit in order to travel to Gaza, while Gazans need the same permit to go to the West Bank (ibid.). These permits are almost always denied even in cases of death of a family member and for the purpose of education (ibid.). The PHRMG provides an illustration of the restrictions on freedom of movement for the holder of a PA identity card. The holder of a PA identity card would not have the right to move freely from Area A (areas controlled by the PA) to another Area A (ie. from Ramallah to Nablus) because between the two cities lie Area C and B (areas B are jointly controlled by the Israelis and the PA, while Area C is exclusively under Israeli control) (13 Jan. 1999).

3. Circumstances Under Which the PA Issues Identity Cards

    B'tselem states that the PA is authorized to issue an identity card to individuals listed in the population registry (which is managed by Israel), i.e. individuals over the age of 16, one of whose parents is a resident, or an individual who has received a family reunification permit, or to others approved by Israel (17 Jan. 1999).

According to Badil, the PA is interested in issuing identity cards to as many Palestinians as possible as part of its effort to establish itself in the region (13 Jan. 1999). However, as already mentioned above, the PA has no authority to decide to whom it will issue an identity card. Based on the Israeli-Palestinian agreements, it can issue identity cards only to those registered in the old population registry compiled by the Israeli military government and their decendants (ibid.). All other cases are special cases which require Israeli approval (e.g. family reunification for non-resident spouses, PA personnel who returned from abroad in the framework of the establishment of the PA and Palestinian police forces) (ibid.). The PA cannot even issue identity cards to residents of its territory who were deported by Israel in the past (exclusive Israeli decision) and to residents whose identity cards were revoked by Israel in the past (subject to a joint Israeli-Palestinian committee which has never been established).

Regarding Palestinians from Jerusalem who have had their blue card revoked by the Israeli authorities, Badil and the PHRMG state that the PA cannot issue them an identity card without Israel's approval (13 Jan. 1999).

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum.

References

Badil: Resource Center for Palestinian Residency & Refugee Rights, Bethleem, West Bank. 13 January 1999. E-mail. Badil is a Palestinian non-profit non-governmental organization which aims at providing critical and progressive information and analysis on the question of Palestinian residency rights and refugees.

B'Tselem, Jerusalem, Israel. 17 January 1999. E-mail. Btselem is an organization that has earned international recognition as the leading Israeli organization monitoring and documenting human rights violations in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, and advocating for positive change. Founded in 1989, B'Tselem has published over 65 reports on a wide variety of human rights issues, and has engaged in various advocacy campaigns.

Palestinian Human Rights Monitoring Group (PHRMG), Jerusalem. 13 January 1999. E-Mail. The PHRWG publishes a newsletter called Monitor.

Attached Documents

Badil. November 1997. Manal Jamal and Buthaina Darwish. Palestinian Residency Rights in the Self Rule Areas Three Year After Partial Israeli Redeployment. [Internet] < http://www.badil.org/Resident/respal.htm > [Accessed on 3 Feb. 1999]

 B'tselem. September 1998. Yael Stein. The Quiet Deportation Continues: Revocation of Residency and Denial of Social Rights of East Jerusalem Palestinians.