wfn.org | AFSC News Release: The Silent Deportation

[RByler@afsc.org]

For Immediate Release
April 25, 1997
Contact:  Ron Byler (215) 241-7060
or Aishah Shahidah Simmons (215) 241-7056

The Silent Deportation: Palestinian and Israeli Lawyer Team 
Will Speak in U.S. About Palestinians Struggling to Maintain Residency Rights

PHILADELPHIA - Lea Tsemel, a prominent Israeli lawyer, and Usama Halabi, a
well-known Palestinian Druze lawyer, will speak in seven U.S. cities, April
28 - May 5, 1997, about the current threat to Palestinian families seeking
to maintain their residency status or gain family reunification in
Jerusalem.  Their speaking engagements in New York, Chicago, Philadelphia,
Cleveland, Detroit, Washington, D.C. and Portland (Ore.) are sponsored by
the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), a Quaker organization with a
long commitment to human rights and a just peace between Israelis and
Palestinians.
	Tsemel is a leading Israeli expert on Palestinian residency rights and has
defended Palestinian political prisoners for more than 20 years in the West
Bank and Gaza Strip.  Halabi was the director of the legal aid department of
the Quaker Legal Aid and Information Center in East Jerusalem until 1996,
when he returned to private practice to handle human and civil rights cases
involving residency rights for Palestinians.
	Since 1967, Palestinians living in Jerusalem have been required by Israeli
law to apply to authorities for formal "family reunification" permits if
their spouse was not registered as a West Bank or Gaza resident.  All
Palestinians living in the Occupied Territories, including East Jerusalem,
are required to carry an identification card.  The result of family
reunification not being granted means that thousands of Palestinians have
had to leave the West Bank and Gaza, putting into effect a silent deportation.
	"Not being granted family reunification or having your ID confiscated has
far-reaching consequences for Palestinian families and the Palestinian
national movement," said Kathy Bergen, coordinator of the speaking tour and
national coordinator of AFSC's Middle East Peace Education Program.  Bergen
said residency rights is one of several difficult issues that must be dealt
with if negotiations between Palestinians and Israelis are to proceed to a
just and peaceful solution.
	Efforts by Israeli and Palestinian lawyers and human rights workers have
drawn attention to refusals for permits for Palestinians living in the West
Bank and Gaza, but the situation for Palestinians in Jerusalem has grown
steadily worse.  The ID cards of Palestinian Jerusalemites are now being
confiscated by the Israeli authorities if Palestinians cannot prove their
"center of life" is in Jerusalem.
	In the U.S., the AFSC Chicago-based Middle East Program staff person,
Jennifer Bing Canar, has worked with Israeli and Palestinian nongovernmental
organizations for three years to organize a campaign to advocate for family
reunification.  The campaign encourages persons in this country to adopt a
Palestinian family and to advocate on the family's behalf for reunification.
	In addition to speaking with community and religious groups, and lawyers
and human rights organizations, Tsemel and Halabi will meet with
Palestinians in the U.S. whose IDs are in danger of being confiscated as a
result of these new Israeli policies and practices.  For more information,
contact Kathy Bergen at (215) 241-7019.
-- 30 --

The American Friends Service Committee is a Quaker organization which
includes people of various faiths who are committed to social justice, peace
and humanitarian service.  Its work is based on the Quaker belief in the
worth of every person, and faith in the power of love to overcome violence
and injustice.

J.Ron Byler
Director of Media Relations
American Friends Service Committee
PH: 215/241-7060
FAX: 215/241-7275
E-MAIL: RByler@afsc.org
http://www.afsc.org