Ramallah: A total of 150,000 family reunion applications are in the file of the Palestinian General Authority of Civil Affairs, with no hope of resolution.
Ma'arouf Zahran, Undersecretary of the Authority, told Gulf News in an interview that the number of families submitting reunion applications is increasing, with the authority unable to do anything to help them.
He said that the Israelis do not handle any of these cases on humanitarian grounds and there is no room for application of Israeli civil jurisdiction and civil courts as only military laws are applied in the Palestinian Territories.
He stressed that the Israeli attitude is illegal, arbitrary and racist at a time when any Jew can easily come to Israel and even get citizenship.
Here are excerpts from the interview:
What are the complications from this problem from the Palestinian perspective?
Family dispersion is a serious problem facing the Palestinian society with no positive response from the Israeli side to solve this problem. This problem started immediately after the 1967 War, deepening the already serious political, social and economic problems. Israel has been handling this problem in a partial and temperamental way, away from the international law.
What could have been a solution to the problem of family dispersion?
If the Palestinians had been given freedom to enter and exit their villages and towns, we would not have reached this critical stage with that large list of Palestinians who want to return.
Why doesn't the Palestinian Authority demand these cases be handled on humanitarian grounds?
The Israeli definition of humanitarian cases is completely different from that of their Palestinian counterpart. If those cases were handled on humanitarian grounds, all of them would be granted the necessary identity cards and end up full residents of the Palestinian Territories. We do not enjoy the Israeli civil laws, and the Palestinian Territories are still ruled by the military commanders who issue the laws and implement them.
Huge numbers of Palestinians in the diaspora are applying for foreign citizenship to get to their homeland. Does this work out?
The Palestinians who get other citizenship, either American or European, cannot get full citizenship in the Palestinian Territories. It is true that they might enter the territories on visit visas, but for a short while, or they are considered illegal immigrants. The Israelis do not handle holders of foreign passports of Palestinian origin the way they handle the original citizens of those countries.
How do the Israelis handle Palestinian holders of foreign passports?
The Israelis do handle Palestinian holders of foreign passports in a respectable way unless they enter Israel from Israeli airports where extremely strict conditions apply. Or else such Palestinians are instructed to enter via Shaikh Hussain Bridge. When they cross this bridge, they are banned from entering Israel.
What about the agreements signed with the Israeli side which organise the entry of the Palestinians?
According to the protocol signed by the Israelis and the Palestinians on September 23, 1995, a total of 5,000 Palestinians can enter the Palestinian Territories annually, but the Israelis did not stick to this agreement. A total of 80,000 Palestinians would have entered the Palestinian Territories and been given the identity cards. That agreement was open till all those interested in coming to the Palestinian Territories come to an end.
Have those who entered the Palestinian Territories and overstayed been given identity cards as part of the agreement?
Those people were not a part of the agreement. The Palestinian Authority has been able to secure a total of 48,000 identity cards from the Israelis following a personal request of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to the former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. A total of 31,000 Palestinians from the West Bank and 12,000 Palestinians from Gaza Strip have been granted identity cards. The identity cards of 5,000 from Gaza have not been activated as yet.
What about the era of Benjamin Netanyahu?
Not a single identity card has been issued since Netanyahu took over.
Do the Israelis issue visit permits to Palestinians?
The number of visit permits is very small and only limited to economic conferences, sports or arts functions. The Israelis are extremely strict about visit permits and never grant ordinary Palestinians such permits. When they do issue such permits, they handle them as pressure on the Palestinian Authority.
Does the General Authority of Civil Affairs have any success regarding movement between the West Bank and Gaza Strip?
Not at all. There is no movement between the two parts of the Palestinian Territories. The Israelis fully control this and limit it to extremely critical medical cases, which are allowed for a very short period of time for treatment, and the Israelis secure the return of that very limited number of patients. Israel does not grant split families the right to unite at all, not even a single case.
The authority's employees on Allenby Bridge were dismissed by the Israeli authorities after the Al Aqsa uprising. What are the latest developments in this case?
We have demanded the Israeli side return the Palestinian representation on the bridge and we expect an answer soon. The dismissal of the Palestinian teams from the bridge on security grounds was illegal and a total and direct violation of the agreements signed between the two sides.
