Adalah & ACRI to Interior Minister: Revoking residency of two Palestinians alleging breach of trust/loyalty is illegal, punitive act

Yesterday, 14 October 2015, Adalah and the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) sent an urgent letter to the Israeli Interior Minister, Silvan Shalom, demanding that he reconsider his decision to cancel the permanent residency status of two East Jerusalem residents, Subhi Abu Khalifa and Shurouq Dawiyat, on the grounds of breach of loyalty for their suspected involvement in security-related events. The letter, written by ACRI Attorney Oded Feller and Adalah Attorney Sawsan Zaher, stated that, "revoking residency is an extreme practice which characterizes dark and totalitarian regimes".

Adalah and ACRI argued in the letter that the Interior Minister’s decision to revoke the residency status of the two men is illegal because the Minister, "is not empowered to revoke residency on the grounds of breach of loyalty", and that "there is no provision in the Citizenship and Entry into Israel Law, which allows the revocation of residency in these circumstances.”

Adalah and ACRI also stated that, "East Jerusalem is occupied territory like the rest of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The Israeli annexation of East Jerusalem is invalid under international law. Therefore, the Citizenship and Entry into Israel Law does not address the unique status of East Jerusalem residents, who are protected persons, and to who Israel has legal obligations."

As for the law applicable to East Jerusalem, Adalah and ACRI argued that, "international human rights law and international humanitarian law both apply to East Jerusalem. These laws prohibit the deportation of protected residents on the grounds of breach of loyalty, and prohibit [the occupier] from requiring them to swear allegiance to the occupying power."

In the letter, the human rights organizations cited as an example the Israeli Supreme Court decision rejecting revocation of the citizenship of Yigal Amir, the individual who murdered Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin in 1995. The Court’s decision states that, "civilized society expresses its disapproval of the murder in other ways, not through the revocation of citizenship, which is one of the most basic fundamental rights."