The Precarious Citizenship Status of Palestinian Citizens of Israel Israel defines itself as a ’Jewish and democratic state’ by decree in its Basic Laws,103 and also publicly touts itself as ‘the only democracy in the Middle East’. However, its democratic credentials are severely undermined by its discriminatory treatment of the non-Jewish Palestinians who constitute roughly 20 percent of the population (1.6 million).104 The State of Israel was created on the ruins of Palestine during the 1947-1949 Nakba, when three-quarters of the nearly one-and-a-half million indigenous Palestinians were forcibly displaced from their homes and communities, subsequently prevented from returning and thus creating the longest-standing global refugee population.105 Around 160,000 Palestinians remained within the newly created state.106 Placed under near-immediate military rule, the remaining indigenous Palestinian population within Israel was regarded as a demographic and security threat. In 1950, Israel declared military rule to control the Palestinian population within its borders, continuing the military control of Palestinian territories held during the 1948 War. For nearly two decades, the sole means of communication between Israel and the Palestinian population would remain the army or the police. To encompass all aspects of the administration, military officials were granted extensive powers, both executive and judicial: These regulations give the authorities extensive and extremely rigorous powers, and their enforcement can destroy individual freedom and individual rights to property almost completely. They cover every aspect of life, from control over the freedom of speech, movement, and the press, to the regulation of the possession of arms, the expropriation of property, and the control of means of transportation.107 103 Basic Law: Human Dignity and Liberty, 5752, http://www.knesset.gov.il/laws/special/eng/basic3_eng. htm “The purpose of this Basic Law is to protect human dignity and liberty, in order to establish in a Basic Law the values of the State of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state.” 104 The State of Israel, “Central Bureau of Statistics” (Central Bureau of Statistics, 2013), http://www.cbs. gov.il/publications14/yarhon1213/pdf/b1.pdf. 105 BADIL, 2010-2012 Survey. 106 Ibid. 107 Sabri Jiryis, The Arabs in Israel (New: Monthly Review Press, 1976). 45