Haaretz Sunday, August 1, 1999

Arab academic loses residency status in East Jerusalem

By Einat Fishbain, Ha'aretz Correspondent

Israeli professors are joining colleagues from around the world in protesting the Interior Ministry's recent decision to strip Dr. Musa Budeiri and his family of their residency rights.Dr. Budeiri is a native and resident of East Jerusalem who lectures in history at al-Quds University, but who also spends much of the year in Britain.

Dr. Budeiri, 53, received his permanen t residence status from Israel in 1971 and then traveled to England in 1979 to pursue his studies. After marrying a British woman and receiving British citizenship, Budeiri returned to Jerusalem in 1983 with "returning resident" status. He was able to ren e w this status annually until several weeks ago, when the ministry informed him that he and his family had to leave the country within 30 days. "I sent my passport, as usual, 10 days before the visa was to expire," he says. "Twenty days later, they returne d it to me with a message that they are taking away our identity cards and that I am a tourist," he added. Professor Oren Yiftahel of Ben-Gurion University is one of the organizers of a letter-writing campaign to Interior Minister Natan Sharansky to protest Budeiri's expulsion. He notes, however, that there is a wider question beyond this individual case: "The Interior Ministry has revoked the residency of 1,600 Arabs since 1993... There is absolute injustice here." He also notes that Budeiri has been a pi oneer in efforts to establish dialogues between Palestinian and Israeli intellectuals. Dr. Budeiri said, "I thought that these problems were behind us... It appears that bureaucracy is much stronger. You never win."

The Interior Ministry attributes its decision to the fact that Budeiri adopted British citizenship and spends much of his time in England. Still, while the ministry says it regards "him as someone who has stopped being a resident," Sharansky has ordered an additional review of the case. (c) copyright 1999 Ha'aretz.