东耶路撒冷巴人寻求以色列国籍者增多

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.

申请以色列国籍的巴勒斯坦人通常会说他们没有选择。

一位要求匿名的巴勒斯坦教师说：“我有一种不好的感受，因为我希望有我的国家护照。作为一个耶路撒冷人，作为一个巴勒斯坦人，我应该有一本巴勒斯坦护照。但不幸的是，我得不到。相反，我得到的东西只会把我跟耶路撒冷连接得更紧。”

虽然一些巴勒斯坦人说，以色列公民身份能使他们得到更好的工作和更多优惠，但也有人不这样认为。

东耶路撒冷居民加桑·诺法尔说：“对于有孩子、有钱花、有房子和商店的这些人来说，公民身份根本帮不上忙。如果他们发一本护照，但是收走身份证，对我来说是一样的。”

这并非都与福利待遇相关。十多年前在一系列自杀式炸弹袭击之后以色列建的一堵混凝土墙，把耶路撒冷郊区一些巴勒斯坦人的住房与这座城市的其余部分隔开了。这些巴勒斯坦人担心他们可能会失去耶路撒冷的居住权。

路透社获得的内政部数字显示，2012-2013年共有1434份护照申请，其中189份已获批准，其余的大部分仍在处理中。

以色列学者拉蒙说：“我们确实看到，拥有以色列国永久居留权的东耶路撒冷人寻求以色列公民身份的人数有所增加。增加幅度有多大的问题可以探讨。”

推动建立一个包括东耶路撒冷的国家的巴勒斯坦官员感到关切。

前巴勒斯坦谈判人员塔法基说：“有很大的风险，如果情况持续下去，巴勒斯坦人还谈判什么呢？他们要谈判土地 - 他们已经失去了土地。他们要谈判人口，而人口正在流失。”

他们说，考虑到那些成为以色列公民的人的孩子生来就是以色列公民，人口方面的影响可能更大。耶路撒冷官员否认人口问题将影响以色列与巴勒斯坦人的谈判。