Many Palestinians in East Jerusalem will not be able to vote in Tuesday’s election because they are not citizens, despite paying Israeli taxes. At the same time, those granted citizenship will not be able to vote in Palestinian Authority elections later this year.
Israel, which added to East Jerusalem after the 1967 Six Wars, sees about 300,000 Palestinians in the region just as residents.
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Selective election boards for the largely Arab Joint Left, leftist, and Likud party of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
(Photo: AFP)
They have social rights, access to health care and resident cards, but do not have a passport. They can only vote for city councilors but not in national elections – unless they break a taboo and get Israeli citizenship. But by doing so they are losing the right to vote in Palestinian elections.
With Israel’s fourth election in less than two years taking place on March 23 and the first Palestinian elections in 15 years planned later this year, the focus is once again on the the complex situation facing these Palestinians.
Jerusalem’s status is one of the most difficult issues of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, with the international community demanding that both sides must be compromised.
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A young man raises the Palestinian flag in East Jerusalem
(Photo: AFP)
Israel sees the entire city as its capital while the Palestinians want East Jerusalem to be the capital of their own state in the future.
In the last few years, thousands of East Jerusalem Palestinians, hoping to improve their lives, have taken over Israeli citizenship.
The move gathered pace after former US President Donald Trump unilaterally recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel in December 2017.
The following year, 1,064 Palestinians applied for East Jerusalem for Israeli citizenship.
Claims rose to 1,633 in 2020, according to Israeli authorities, which say more than 1,800 were granted Israeli citizenship last year.
Palestinian teacher Nour Dwayyat, who was granted Israeli citizenship five years ago, voted in Israel’s last three elections and plans to cast her ballot again this time.
“I live in this country, I’m part of it. I have the right to vote,” the 34-year-old said. “Every vote counts and I will vote for candidates who work for the good of the Arab community.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hopes to usher in a new term following a successful coronavirus vaccination campaign and suspicions of diplomatic ties with several Arab countries.
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East Jerusalem Lawyer Amer Nasser
(Photo: AFP)
East Jerusalem lawyer Amer Nasser – who also became an Israeli citizen a few years ago but maintains he is still Palestinian through and through – said Netanyahu was not arrested.
“I will vote for an Arab Joint List,” Nasser said of the alliance supported by many Arab Israelis, who make up one-fifth of the population.
“Netanyahu is very interested in foreign relations with Arab countries and has little interest in making peace with the Palestinians, despite the fact that they are originally from this area and are living there, “he said.
Nasser said he hoped his vote would bring “peace” between Palestinians and Israelis.
Dwayyat said Israel’s passport has helped it travel freely around the world, as Israeli visas do not have to enter most countries, unlike Palestinians, which opposes mountains restrictions.
But day by day nothing has changed, she said, adding among Israelis, “Arabs are always regarded as Arabs.”
When it comes to Palestine elections this year, she said, it doesn’t matter that she can’t vote because “it won’t give me anything”.
The Palestinians plan to hold legislative elections in May and a prime vote in July, and have urged the international community to send an audience.
In particular, they have called on EU analysts to practice in East Jerusalem, which the majority of the international community never recognized as linked to Israel.
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Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will cast his ballot in the 2006 Palestinian Parliamentary elections at his headquarters in the West Bank town of Ramallah
(Photo: AP)
Lawyer and political analyst Moein Odeh believes that Israel will not allow the Palestinians to hold polls in East Jerusalem, as it is blocking the Palestinian Authority’s activity in that part of the town.
“Israel will not allow elections in Jerusalem because they want to exercise its sovereignty,” he said.
“And even if elections were to be held in East Jerusalem as a result of international pressure on Israel … the Palestinian elected parliament will not have permission or opinion,” he said.
In fact, Odeh said, “Palestinians are not worried about these elections because they will not affect the city.”
East Jerusalem resident Wafa Qawasmi-Bukhari, 54, agreed.
“Who will I vote for?” she said, recalling that in the last elections in 2006 she cast a ballot, full of hope for change in her city.
“They were telling us lies,” she said. “They promised deliverance to Jerusalem … but Israel continued to overthrow it [Palestinian] homes … and the Palestinian Authority failed to act. “