東耶路撒冷巴人尋求以色列國籍者增多
Most Palestinians living in East Jerusalem have long rejected the option of full Israeli citizenship, seeing it as a betrayal to their political cause - the formation of a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital. But as that dream remains elusive, more and more Palestinians are applying for Israeli citizenship.
Palestinians seeking Israeli citizenship usually say they do not have a choice.
Palestinian Teacher, who asked not to be identified, said: "I have a bad feeling because I prefer to have the passport of my country as a Jerusalemite, as a Palestinian, so I should have a Palestinian passport. But unfortunately I cannot get one. Instead, I got something that will only connect me more to Jerusalem."
While some Palestinians say that full-fledged citizenship enables them to get better jobs and more benefits, others disagree.
Ghassan Nofal, East Jerusalem resident said: "For someone that has children, expenses, a house and a shop and all these things, the citizenship could never help. If they give us a passport and take away our IDs, it is the same for me."
It is not all about benefits. The suburban Jerusalem homes of some Palestinians got separated from the rest of the city by an Israeli concrete wall built ten years ago after a rash of suicide bombings. Those Palestinians fear they may lose Jerusalem residency.
Interior Ministry figures obtained by the Reuters news agency, show that there were 1,434 passport applications for the year 2012-2013, of which 189 have been approved. Most of the rest are still being processed.
Amnon Ramon, Researcher Of The Jerusalem Institute for Israel Studies, said: "We are indeed witnessing an increase in the number of East Jerusalemites who have permanent residency status in the state of Israel who are seeking Israeli citizenship. The question of how big this increase is - is debatable."
Palestinian officials pushing for a state that would include the territory of East Jerusalem are concerned.
Khalil Tafakji, former member of The Palestinian Negotiating Team, said: "There is a big risk that if the situation continues, what will the Palestinians negotiate about? They want to negotiate about land - they already lost the land. They want to negotiate for the population and the population is being lost."
The demographic impact could be even wider, they say, when one considers that the children of those who become Israeli are born Israeli citizens. Officials in Jerusalem deny that the demographics will affect Israel's negotiations with Palestinians.居住在東耶路撒冷的大多數巴勒斯坦人長期以來拒絕選擇以色列國籍，視之爲背叛他們的政治大業 - 建立一個以東耶路撒冷爲首都的巴勒斯坦國。但由於這個夢想仍然遙遙無期，越來越多的巴勒斯坦人正在申請獲得以色列公民身份。很多巴勒斯坦人表示，這是個艱難決定，但不得不務實面對。
申請以色列國籍的巴勒斯坦人通常會說他們沒有選擇。
一位要求匿名的巴勒斯坦教師說：“我有一種不好的感受，因爲我希望有我的國家護照。作爲一個耶路撒冷人，作爲一個巴勒斯坦人，我應該有一本巴勒斯坦護照。但不幸的是，我得不到。相反，我得到的東西只會把我跟耶路撒冷連接得更緊。”
雖然一些巴勒斯坦人說，以色列公民身份能使他們得到更好的工作和更多優惠，但也有人不這樣認爲。
東耶路撒冷居民加桑·諾法爾說：“對於有孩子、有錢花、有房子和商店的這些人來說，公民身份根本幫不上忙。如果他們發一本護照，但是收走身份證，對我來說是一樣的。”
這並非都與福利待遇相關。十多年前在一系列自殺式炸彈襲擊之後以色列建的一堵混凝土牆，把耶路撒冷郊區一些巴勒斯坦人的住房與這座城市的其餘部分隔開了。這些巴勒斯坦人擔心他們可能會失去耶路撒冷的居住權。
路透社獲得的內政部數字顯示，2012-2013年共有1434份護照申請，其中189份已獲批准，其餘的大部分仍在處理中。
以色列學者拉蒙說：“我們確實看到，擁有以色列國永久居留權的東耶路撒冷人尋求以色列公民身份的人數有所增加。增加幅度有多大的問題可以探討。”
推動建立一個包括東耶路撒冷的國家的巴勒斯坦官員感到關切。
前巴勒斯坦談判人員塔法基說：“有很大的風險，如果情況持續下去，巴勒斯坦人還談判什麼呢？他們要談判土地 - 他們已經失去了土地。他們要談判人口，而人口正在流失。”
他們說，考慮到那些成爲以色列公民的人的孩子生來就是以色列公民，人口方面的影響可能更大。耶路撒冷官員否認人口問題將影響以色列與巴勒斯坦人的談判。
