East Jerusalem

Ruins of the Burqan family’s house, Silwan, demolished on 5 Dec. 2012 by the Jerusalem Municipality. Nine family members resided in the house, six of them children. Photo: ‘Amer ‘Aruri, B’Tselem, 5 December 2011

Since the annexation of East Jerusalem in 1967, Israeli authorities have promoted the twofold goal of expanding the city’s Jewish population and reducing its Palestinian population. Various steps have been adopted to achieve this objective, including the isolation of East Jerusalem from the rest of the West Bank, land appropriation, and discriminatory policies on planning and construction and budget allotment. Furthermore, although the annexation of East Jerusalem and its residents was a decision made by Israel and not by the people who live there, Israeli authorities treat East Jerusalem Palestinians as if they had made a voluntary decision to immigrate to Israel. Therefore, the authorities void Palestinians’ residency status and social benefits if they do not meet the restrictive criteria originally formulated for foreign residents.

Background on East Jerusalem

Welcome to Bir Nabala

The town of Bir Nabala, next to Jerusalem, is trapped in an enclave of the Separation Barrier. A residential suburb of East Jerusalem since the 1970s, Bir Nabala enjoyed relative prosperity in the 1990s thanks to its central location and easy access to Ramallah and East Jerusalem, and from there to central Israel. Now isolated by the barrier, Bir Nabala lost half its residents, most of them East Jerusalemites who returned to the city, and many of the town’s businesses closed. Using unique archival footage, “Welcome to Bir Nabala” documents the transformation of Bir Nabala into a ghost town, via the stories of two local banquet halls.