(IsraelNN.com) Several current and former representatives of Hamas in the Palestinian Authority government are petitioning the High Court of Justice to return their revoked Israeli ID cards, which granted them permanent residency status in the Jewish State.
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“It can’t be that people who are members of a government calling for the destruction of the State of Israel will also have the right to be citizens of the State of Israel,” Darshan-Leitner said. “This is the most absurd thing ever heard.”
Hamas Officials Petitioning to Remain Israeli
Three of the petitioners – Abu Tir, Ahmed Abu Atoun and Mahmoud Totach – were representatives of Hamas in the PA legislature. A fourth Hamas member, Khaled Abu Arafa, was appointed to the PA government as the representative for Jerusalem affairs. Then-Interior Minister Ronnie Bar-On formally issued the orders demanding that the four men resign their positions or face the loss of their permanent residency status, although both Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni took credit for the unusual ultimatum at the time.
Shortly after Israel conquered the heart of Jerusalem, in 1967, residents of the eastern part of the city who rejected full Israeli citizenship were granted permanent residency status. Holding special ID cards, permanent residents can vote in municipal elections, receive Israeli pensions, social security and health care benefits, and enjoy freedom of movement throughout the State of Israel.
On Wednesday, the High Court held its second hearing in the case. The legal representative for Abu Arafa argued that he quit the PA government in 2007 and should therefore get his permanent residency back. The court rejected Abu Arafa’s argument and said that his removal from power was insufficient reason, in and of itself, to automatically restore his status.
By the end of Wednesday’s hearing, the court announced that it would be reviewing the material and will set a date for another hearing. Lawyers involved in the case say that there is no indication when the next hearing will be or even if it will include a final court decision in the case or not.
Legitimately Elected Leaders or Leading Terrorists?
According to the central claim put forth in the petition of the Hamas members, Israel has no right to strip legitimately elected members of the PA government of their residency status. The elections in which Hamas won a sweeping victory in January 2006, and after which the four men took power, were approved by Israel and even enjoyed IDF security, the petitioners pointed out.
Responding to the petition in an amicus brief (friend of the court) filing alongside the named government offices and officials is Shurat HaDin, an anti-terrorism legal advocacy organization headed by Atty. Nitsana Darshan-Leitner.
“It can’t be that people who are members of a government calling for the destruction of the State of Israel will also have the right to be citizens of the State of Israel,” Darshan-Leitner said. “This is the most absurd thing ever heard.”
Darshan-Leitner expressed her confidence in the ultimate wisdom of the court: “The senior Hamas officials pretend in their petition to come with clean hands, as people untouched by any wrongdoing, and whose Israeli residency permits were taken from them without any justification. However, the court sits among the people, and it knows who is responsible for the thousands of innocent civilians wounded in the last decade. There is a limit to how blinded it can be.”
Joining the members of the Hamas terrorist organization and their families in their petition are the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) and an Israeli Arab advocacy organization called Adalah.
A spokeswoman for ACRI said that stripping someone of their citizenship, or the equivalent, “is an action taken by totalitarian countries, not democracies.” She also noted that someone involved in criminal or terrorist acts can always be prosecuted, but they should not lose their citizenship rights. %ad%
In addition, the ACRI spokeswoman pointed out what she called, “the unique situation of East Jerusalem Arabs. Their homes were occupied in 1967.” Unlike immigrants to the country, who voluntarily choose Israeli citizenship, she explained, the residents of post-1967 Jerusalem had no other option. “We had to give them residency, at least,” she added, “and they had to take it.” With the possible exception of a citizenship issued to an immigrant under false pretenses, as a matter of principle ACRI opposed the revocation of the citizenship or other equivalent permanent status of any Israeli resident.