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Israel strips 4 Jerusalemites of their residency permits

May 1, 2018 at 11:44 am

Israel on Sunday stripped four Jerusalemite officials of their permanent residency under the pretext that they are not loyal to Israel, local human rights groups said.

Lawyer Fadi Al-Qawasmi said that Israel’s Interior Minister Aryeh Deri revoked the residency of MPs Mohammed Abu Tir, Ahmad Attoun and Mohammed Toutah as well as former Minister of Jerusalem Affairs Khaled Abu Arafa.

Al-Qawasmi said the decision came after the Knesset approved a new bill earlier in March that gives the minister the power to strip the residency of anyone he views as being involved in “terrorism” or “anti-Israel acts”.

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According to Al-Qawasmi, the Israeli Supreme Court in mid-September 2017 overturned a decision to revoke the residency of the Jerusalemite MPs. However, it decided to give the Israeli government a time limit to enact a law that gives the Interior Ministry the authority to strip any Jerusalemite of their residency.

The Palestinian lawyer described the bill as “unfair” and “illegal”, saying that it was applied retroactively. He affirmed that the officials will oppose the decision in court.