Quick takesJerusalem Palestinians residency rights; German refugee vetting; Turkish assault
The Israeli government, worried about the demographic trends entailed by Israel’s continuing occupation of Palestinian lands, and aware of growing public anger and the government’s inability to end the daily knife attacks by young Palestinians against Israeli citizens, is planning to strip Jerusalem residency rights from Palestinians in East Jerusalem, which has been annexed to Israel within months after the June 1967 Six Day War; Germany is going back to a case-by-case vetting of Syrian refugees; Turkey has launched a massive military operation against Kurdish separatists.
Jerusalem: Israel plans to revoke residency right from Palestinians in Jerusalem
The Israeli government, worried about the demographic trends entailed by Israel’s continuing occupation of Palestinian lands, and aware of growing public anger and the government’s inability to end the daily knife attacks by young Palestinians against Israeli citizens, is planning to strip Jerusalem residency rights from Palestinians in East Jerusalem, which has been annexed to Israel within months after the June 1967 Six Day War. The move could affect more than 230,000 people. The Israeli identity cards give about 350,000 Palestinians who live in East Jerusalem the right to move freely and work across the city. Israel has built a separation wall, which runs through some parts of Jerusalem, to offer better protection to Israeli citizens, but it appears that the government plan would affect Palestinians not only on the eastern side of the wall, but those who live west of the wall. If residency rights are revoked, the Palestinians affected would become stateless: they do not live in areas controlled by the Palestinian Authority, and thus are not Palestinian citizens, and without residency any rights in Israel, there would be no state to which they belong.
Germany: Going back to case-by-case refugee vetting
Germany plans to change the standard vetting procedure for refugees from Syria. With the number of refugees from that country rising dramatically and threatening to overwhelm to application system, the applications for Syrians were simplified and generally approved on the basis of a simple written application. Fears of terrorists and fraudsters exploiting the simplified system have led the German government to return to case-by-case checks. The German decision comes as news emerged of ISIS using stolen machines to produce documents for identification, and as the European Union’s border security agency, Frontex, warns of the stolen passports becoming a security risk.
Turkey: Massive operation against Kurdish separatists launched
Turkey has deployed some 10,000 troops, backed by tanks, artillery, and air power, to the country’s southeast in an effort to rout young PKK supporters from urban areas, according to local media. So far, 102 Kurds have been reported killed and hundreds injured. The operation, which targets the main cities in the province of Sirnak, began last Wednesday.
