Introduction 7 East Jerusalem In 1967, Israel annexed 70.5 km2 of East Jerusalem (the West Bank) and imposed Israeli law contrary to international law.9 35 percent of annexed East Jerusalem was confiscated for establishing Israeli colonies and, today, 87 percent of East Jerusalem is planned to prohibit Palestinian residency. A 1967 census estimated that 70,000 Palestinians lived in East Jerusalem and no Israelis.10 In 2012, 270,000 Palestinians and an estimated 200,000 Israeli colonists reside in East Jerusalem.11 Since annexation, Israel has implemented policies designed to reduce the number of Palestinians in the city. Planning, development and legislation are tools used to fulfill that ideology among which is the principal of ‘demographic balance’.12 While East Jerusalem is the internationally recognized capital of Palestine, it does not fall under the military legal systems applied to the remainder of the West Bank. Rather, subsequent to annexation, Israel applied its civil legal code to East Jerusalem by virtue of two laws.13 Owing to spatial constraints a full outline of Israeli law will not be presented in this publication, but rather only those laws most pertinent to forced population transfer in East Jerusalem. Gaza Strip The Gaza Strip, a narrow piece of land on the Mediterranean coast, is home to a population of more than 1.5 million Palestinians. Gaza covers an area of just 360 square kilometers and is considered one of the most densely populated areas in the world. In 2005, Israel withdrew its military and colonists from inside the Gaza Strip, however it remains in control of the borders, including the entry and exit of people and goods, as well as the air space and access to the sea. The humanitarian situation in Gaza is marked by extreme poverty and unemployment with severe shortages in 9 10 11 12 13 In 1968, the UN Security Council declared the annexation decree illegal and in flagrant violation of international law. See UN Security Council resolution 252. BADIL and COHRE, Ruling Palestine – A History of the Legally Sanctioned Jewish-Israeli Seizure of Land and Housing in Palestine (Geneva, Switzerland; Bethlehem, Palestine, 2005), 125. OCHA, Settlements in Palestinian Residential Areas in East Jerusalem (April 2012); available from http://www.ochaopt.org/documents/ocha_opt_ej_settlements_factSheet_april_2012_english.pdf; accessed 26 April 2013. According to the former advisor on Arab Affairs to the Mayor of Jerusalem, Amir Chesin: ‘Israel’s leaders adopted two basic principles in their rule of east Jerusalem. The first was to rapidly increase the Jewish population in east Jerusalem. The second was to hinder growth of the Arab population and to force Arab residents to make their homes elsewhere.’ From Human Rights Watch, Separate and Unequal: Israel’s Discriminatory Treatment of Palestinians in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (Israel/Occupied Palestinian Territories, December 2010), 31–32; available from http://www.hrw.org/ sites/default/files/reports/iopt1210webwcover_0.pdf; accessed 2 May 2013. Law and Administration Ordinance 5727-1967, 1967 Amendment No. 11, Vol. 21, P. 75.