Israeli Citizenship for Jerusalem Residents International law considers East Jerusalem a part of the occupied Palestinian territory governed by the laws of war, and that Israel is the occupying power. Consequently, Israel cannot require Palestinians in East Jerusalem to become Israeli citizens since they are protected persons under international humanitarian law.31 However, permanent residents are permitted to apply for Israeli citizenship if they swear allegiance to the State of Israel, are not citizens of another country and demonstrate a certain level of proficiency in Hebrew.32 Most Palestinian Jerusalemites have not applied for naturalization for political reasons, considering themselves indigenous to territory occupied by Israel and refusing to facilitate Israel’s illegal annexation of that territory by accepting citizenship. However, according to reports, the applications for Israeli citizenship have increased in the 2000s, with 7,000 Palestinian Jerusalemites applying for citizenship between 2001 and 2010, two-thirds of them between 2008 and 2010 alone. The upsurge in applications may be a response to increased residency revocations.33 More than 14,000 Palestinians have lost their residency status and right to live in East Jerusalem since 1967.34 The law governing the status of Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem is the Entry into Israel Law of 1952.35 The law stipulates that permanent residency status is automatically revoked when a holder of the status leaves Israel to live elsewhere. However, before 1995, Israel usually implemented revocations only when persons were granted citizenship or residency in other countries, or when they lived outside of East Jerusalem for more than seven years without extending their exit permits. Equivalent to immigrant status, Israel undermines the basic right of Palestinians to live in their homes by treating it as a revocable privilege, rather than a human right. The ruling of the Israeli High Court in the 1988 Mubarak Awad case reinforced the tenuousness of permanent residency status and served as a 31 United Nations Security Council Resolution 242 of 22 November 1967 affirmed the illegality of acquiring territory through military conquest (http://unispal.un.org/unispal. nsf/0/7D35E1F729DF491C85256EE700686136) and is contravenes the Fourth Geneva Convention. The International Court of Justice reaffirmed the illegality of Israeli annexation, Palestinian Jerusalemites’ status as protected persons and Israel’s status as occupying Power in its 9 July 2004 advisory opinion: http://www.icj-cij.org/docket/?p1=3&p2=4&k=5a&case=131&code=mwp&p3=4. 32 State parties, The Hague Regulations: Convention (IV) Respecting the Laws and Customs of War on Land and Its Annex, 1907, http://www.icrc.org/applic/ihl/ihl.nsf/Article. xsp?action=openDocument&documentId=2659EF8E9C6AA778C12563CD005168B2 Article 45, “[I]t is forbidden to compel residents of occupied territory to swear allegiance to the hostile power,.” 33 IRIN Humanitarian News and Analysis, “Palestinians from East Jerusalem Seek Safety in Israeli Citizenship,” May 30, 2013, http://www.irinnews.org/fr/report/98132/palestinians-from-eastjerusalem-seek-safety-in-israeli-citizenship. 34 B’Tselem, “Statistics on Revocation of Residency in East Jerusalem” (B’Tselem- The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories, August 7, 2013), http://www.btselem.org/ jerusalem/revocation_statistics. 35 Ben-Hillel, “The Legal Status Pf East Jerusalem.” 21