Haaretz , Monday, July 26, 1999

Ethnic cleansing, domestic style

By Danny Rubinstein

While the new Interior Minister, Natan Sharansky, is examining his ministry's policies on East Jerusalem, a ministry official told historian Dr. Mousa Budeiri of Jerusalem that his residency visa would not be extended. The announcement means that Dr. Budeiri will be unable to leave the country - or, more accurately, that if he leaves he will be unable to return except as a tourist, and then he would lose the right t o live permanently in Jerusalem. Budeiri's case is an example of the methods used by the Interior Ministry to mistreat the city's Arab residents.Dr. Budeiri was born 54 years ago in West Jerusalem's Katamon neighborhood, and soon after moved with his fami l y to the eastern part of the city. His family is one of the most respected and wealthiest among Jerusalem's Arabs. His father was a doctor and leftist activist, who also left behind a well-known book of memoirs. Budeiri graduated from high school in East J erusalem before going to Oxford. In 1967, while he was in England, the Israeli Interior Ministry approved a "family reunification" for him, and he received an Israeli identity card as a resident of East Jerusalem. His wife, who is English, also received a n Israeli identity card. Budeiri travels abroad frequently to pursue his academic interests. He has taught at both Bethlehem and Bir Zeit Universities, and for the past several years has been teaching at Jerusalem's Al-Quds University. Previously, he stud ied and taught at Cambridge and Princeton as well. Until 1979 he traveled abroad under an Israeli laissez-passer - a sort of passport issued by the Interior Ministry to Arab residents of the city who are not Israeli citizens. In 1980, during a sabbatical in London, Dr. Budeiri noticed that his laissez-passer was about to expire. He turned to the Israeli embassy, where he was told to wait for an extension of the document to arrive from Jerusalem. He waited, and in the meantime the travel document expired. The Israeli consul told him that the only way he could return to Israel was by obtaining a foreign passport. He could then obtain a "returning resident" certificate and a visa that would allow him to return to Jerusalem and continue to hold an Israeli ide ntity card. Budeiri followed these instructions: Since his wife had a British passport, he obtained one as well and used it to return to Israel. Since then, Budeiri has traveled abroad frequently on his British passport, which had an Israeli visa stamped in it to enable him to enter and leave as a resident of Jerusalem rather than as a tourist. \par The Israeli visa is very significant, since if he were here on a tourist visa, he would be prohibited from working. He would also be unable to receive health insurance and other benefits from the government. \par The last time, in 1996, the Interior Ministry gave him a three-year visa (in his British passport). This was very convenient, because it meant that he did not have to extend it each time. However, a few weeks a go the visa expired. Three weeks ago he went, as usual, to the Interior Ministry to renew it. His wife and children divide their time between Jerusalem and London, and they wanted to spend Dr. Budeiri's summer vacation from Al-Quds University together in E ngland. This time, he was told at the Interior Ministry that there was a problem, since he travels abroad frequently, and they want to check whether he really lives in Israel. They checked and they checked and finally, last week, told him that they will n ot issue a visa for him. This means that he can leave the country on his British passport, but without a visa that would enable him to return. In other words, if he goes abroad, he would lose his right to live permanently in Jerusalem. In the meantime, ab out half of his vacation has gone by and he has asked his wife and children to come here, since he cannot go to them.According to human rights organizations in Jerusalem, there are thousands more like Budeiri. The fact that in 1967 Jerusalem Arabs did not receive full Israeli citizenship, like all other Israeli Arabs, allows the Interior Ministry to torment them. The ministry seeks to take away their Israeli identity cards and force them to leave the city. That is the essence of the process that Jerusalem Arabs call the "quiet transfer." Those who prefer more direct names call it the Israeli bureaucracy of ethnic cleansing in Jerusalem.