The Latin Patriarchate

SOCIETY OF ST YVES

"I am my brother's keeper"

Catholic Human Rights Legal Center

Thursday, 04 December 2003

We would like to report a wonderful victory in the High Court of Israel and offer it to all readers of the web site of the Latin Patriarchate as a Christmas gift.

Several Months ago the Society of Saint Yves, the Human and Civil Rights Legal Center of the Latin Patriarchate, Petitioned the High Court of Justice in Israel on the inhuman and degrading conditions forced upon the Palestinian population of Occupied East Jerusalem by the Ministry of the Interior.

Residents have been forced for many years to suffer intolerably when they had to conduct any business at all with the Ministry. Pictures speak a thousand words and the ones below show the queues waiting in all weather, blazing sun or stormy rain, to enter the cage that leads to the Ministry's offices.

The number of staff to service hundreds of people every day was pitifully small and the hours on which the Ministry was open to receive the people were deliberately kept to a minimum; far less than staff and far fewer hours of service than were available to their West Jerusalem neighbours.

The case attracted widespread attention in all of the media for several months in all of its branches; radio, television and newspapers in Arabic, Hebrew and English. We will include some of the newspaper coverage to illustrate the coverage and the extensive public debate that was engendered by the Petition. We also include newspaper coverage of the very favourable outcome of the case.

God Bless and a Happy and Holy Christmas

Bill Docherty. Director.

For the Latin Patriarchate Society of Saint Yves.

The following is an excerpt from the report in Al Quds Daily Newspaper. Monday, November 24, 2003 on the day of the hearing of the case in the High Court of Justice

"This hearing was the result of a Petition of the Society of Saint Yves, representing the Catholic Church legal branch dealing with Human rights. The Petition dealt with many of the humiliating conditions that the people of East Jerusalem are suffering from. The Society of Saint Yves, stated that this is a discriminating and humiliating policy as can be seen by the long lines outside the existing building and added that people even have to bribe their way with money and some times even with sex."

The following is a description of conditions at the Ministry of the Interior in East Jerusalem that appeared in the Hebrew and English editions of the Haaretz Daily Newspaper on Wednesday, December 03, 2003.

Jerusalem's Arabs are herded `like cattle' at Interior Ministry

By Danny Rubinstein

The lines and crush at the entrance to the Interior Ministry offices in East Jerusalem have earned an endless number of descriptions in the Israeli and foreign media over the years. Masses of Arabs, residents of East Jerusalem, gather there from late at night to win entry into the building the following morning. The offices open at 8 A.M. every day, and there are days on which one can see people gathering in line outside the building from 7:30 P.M. the evening before.

All the first places in the line are taken by gangs of bullies and "fixers" with connections, and many choose to pay these bullies and "fixers" so as not to suffer the crush and humiliation of waiting in line through the night. Sometimes, fights break out over places in the line, which, by morning, is filled with hundreds of people, including the elderly, women and children.

When morning comes, police posted at the location begin allowing small groups into the building, and such is the practice through to the afternoon. Each day, only a portion of those who have waited in line actually get in to the offices. The others are forced to return another day, to be pushed and shoved between the fences like cattle in a pen.

The Interior Ministry branch in East Jerusalem is not a regular branch of the ministry; after all, almost all of Jerusalem's 230,000 Arabs are not Israeli citizens. They carry Israeli identity cards, but the term "identity card" in this context may be somewhat misleading because Jerusalem's Arabs are officially defined as permanent residents of Israel.

In keeping with this status, they are not entitled to Israeli passports, and do not have the right to vote in elections to the Knesset. But in all other aspects of life, they have almost the same status as Israeli citizens: They are required to pay taxes and dues, and enjoy all the country's social services, including health services and National Insurance allowances.

From the point of view of Jerusalem's Arabs, the Israeli identity card is valuable, primarily because it allows them freedom of movement within Israel. While their brethren in the West Bank and Gaza Strip are under closures, they can work and trade throughout Israel, which is a huge economic advantage.

While it is very difficult for an Israeli citizen to lose his citizenship, for the Arab permanent resident from East Jerusalem, losing his residency right is very easy. It is enough for the Interior Ministry to learn that he has moved "the center of his life" outside of Jerusalem for the authorities to confiscate his identity card.

Most such instances involve Jerusalem Arabs who because of housing shortages have moved to the new Arab neighborhoods on the way to Ramallah, in the West Bank.

Jerusalem's Arabs are not allowed to hold Palestinian passports, so to travel abroad, they require a travel pass (laissez passer) from the Interior Ministry. They are also required to update their identity cards with any changes in their personal status - marriage, children, etc. - in order to receive National Insurance allowances.

When arriving at the Interior Ministry to renew their identity cards, they are required to prove they are residents of the city. Proof is provided in the form of receipts for municipal tax, water, electricity and telephone payments, as well as records pertaining to their children attending a school in the city. Without such proof, they are likely to lose their Israeli identity cards.

Almost all of the interior ministers in recent years have visited the ministry's East Jerusalem location, and have witnessed the disgraceful scene there every day. A series of complaints regarding the situation there have been investigated, and some have revealed incidences of corruption and bribery.

The Interior Ministry has often claimed that it is unable to find an alternative location because property owners in East Jerusalem refuse to lease a suitable building to an Israeli ministry. There has been talk in the past of using a building that had been slated to house a school, near the Hyatt Hotel, but nothing has come of it.

The following is a description of the High Court ruling against the Ministry of the Interior in East Jerusalem that appeared in the Hebrew and English editions of the Haaretz Daily Newspaper on Thursday, December 04, 2003.

Court tells ministry: Move to new offices

_{By Yuval Yoaz}

The High Court of Justice yesterday morning ordered the Interior Ministry to move the East Jerusalem offices of the population registrar to a larger building, employ more people at the facility and extend its opening hours.

Supreme Court President Justice Aharon Barak and Justices Ayala Procaccia and Miriam Naor unanimously found in favor of a petition filed by Dr. Rafoul Jabra Rofa, a resident of East Jerusalem, and gave the state 19 months to move the Interior Ministry offices to a new and larger building.

The justices also ordered the state to immediately employ a total of 42 workers at the office and extend its opening hours.

In addition, the High Court ordered the state to reimburse Rofa, represented by attorney Yossi Schwartz of the Catholic Church's Saint Eve Association, NIS 10,000 in legal fees.

During a hearing on the petition two weeks ago, attorney Avi Licht, representing the state, unusually asked the court to order the state to move the office. "This is the only way that the Interior Ministry will take any action on the matter," he said.

"There is no disputing that the conditions at the East Jerusalem office are harsh," the justices ruled yesterday. "We believe that these are extremely intolerable conditions and make it very difficult indeed for the residents of East Jerusalem who come to the office seeking vital services.

"Making the residents wait outside for extended periods of time, without the proper physical conditions, goes beyond the boundaries of reason and even goes as far as to indirectly infringe on the rights of the residents," the ruling said.

We conclude with the report in Al Quds Thursday, 04 December 2003. Front Page:

الصفحة الأولى

المحكمة العليا الاسرائيلية تأمر الداخلية بنقل مكاتبها في القدس الى مجمع المأمونية خلال 19 شهراً وتحسين خدماتها وزيادة عدد موظفيها وساعات الدوام

القدس - اصدرت محكمة العدل العليا الاسرائيلية قراراً امس في جلستها المنعقدة برئاسة رئيسها القاضي اهارون براك، تلزم فيه وزير الداخلية بنقل مكاتب وزارة الداخلية - شارع نابلس - في القدس الشرقية الى مبنى المأمونية خلال 19 شهرا من تاريخ اصدار هذا القرار الذي تضمن ايضاً ما يأتي:
1- زيادة عدد الموظفين العاملين في الوزارة من 29 موظفاً الى 42 موظفاً على الاقل.
2- زيادة ساعات استقبال المراجعين.
3- تقديم الطلبات بواسطة البريد كما هو متبع في فرع وزارة الداخلية في القدس الغربية وخاصة طلبات «لاسيه باسيه».
كما حكمت المحكمة على المدعى عليهم بدفع مبلغ 10.000 شيكل للمدعين وذلك بدل مصاريف.
وقد جاء هذا القرار اثر الالتماس الذي رفعته مؤسسة سانت ايف المركز الكاثوليكي لحقوق الانسان برئاسة بطريرك اللاتين ميشيل صباح بوساطة محاميها يوسي شوارتز والمحامي رفول روفا الى المحكمة العليا ضد وزير الداخلية ومدير عام وزارة الداخلية ومدير دائرة تسجيل السكان وذلك بسبب الوضع الصعب الذي يواجهه المواطنون العرب في مكاتب وزارة الداخلية في شرقي القدس من انتظار طويل وطوابير طويلة في حر الصيف وبرد الشتاء وعدم توفير الخدمات اللازمة والمناسبة للمواطنين التي تليق بهم.
والجدير ذكره ايضا ان محكمة العدل العليا لم تكتف هذه المرة كما في المرات السابقة بتعهدات لتحسين الخدمات في مكاتب وزارة الداخلية بالقدس الشرقية وبنقله الى مكان آخر ولكنها اصدرت اوامر ملزمة بهذا الشأن.