When rights collide in Jerusalem - by Gidon Ben-Zvi

Does naming streets in eastern Jerusalem after rabbis violate the rights of the neighborhood’s overwhelmingly Arab population? Of course not.

Gidon Ben-Zvi..
JNS.org..
20 June '19..

This week, the Jerusalem Municipality authorized the naming of five alleyways and narrow streets in the Batan al-Hawa neighborhood of Silwan after rabbis. Currently, 12 Jewish families and hundreds of Palestinian families live in this eastern Jerusalem neighborhood.

In response, one of the two naming committee members who opposed the new street names, councilman Yossi Havilio, stated that such a move will provoke residents and inflame the neighborhood.

Did the city of Jerusalem violate the rights of residents by assigning Jewish street names in an overwhelmingly Arab neighborhood?

First, let’s clarify their rights. The overwhelming majority of the 300,000 Palestinians living in eastern Jerusalem aren’t Israeli citizens. They’re permanent residents who nonetheless have many of the rights of full-fledged citizens, such as the right to vote in municipal elections, access to social security compensation, membership in one of Israel’s health funds and employment in virtually any profession.

What’s preventing these residents from enjoying full citizenship rights? Simply put—they are. After the 1967 Six-Day War, residents of eastern Jerusalem rejected the possibility of receiving Israeli citizenship as a protest against newly established Israeli sovereignty.

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Gidon Ben-Zvi contributes to “The Algemeiner,” “The Times of Israel,” “The Jerusalem Post,” CiF Watch and blogs at Jerusalem State of Mind.