The impact of the current situation on the human rights of the vulnerable Palestinian groups In East Jerusalem

The Heinrich Böll Stiftung (hbs) has conducted this research to better understand the impact of the current political situation on the human rights’ issue of Palestinians in East Jerusalem in general, and of the vulnerable groups in particular. In doing so, this study analyzes the current situation of East Jerusalem from different perspectives: political, social and economic, using the case study and life story approach, in addition to in-depth interviews with key informants. The research observations highlight the complexity of the current geopolitical context of East Jerusalem such as the annexation, the construction of the Jewish settlements and the separation Wall, as well as the Israeli policies that discriminate against the Palestinian Jerusalemites. The analysis identifies on the one hand, the imposed Israeli measures that violate human rights at different levels, and on the other hand, the structural macrosocial forces in the Palestinian society that influence the level of respect of human rights, in order to differentiate between what’s imposed by the state of Israel and what is culturally inherited. The study concludes that the vulnerable groups are subjected to these two levels of violations in a way that makes the mission of advocating for them more complex. The study also differentiates between the Israeli policies that are comprehensive for all the Palestinian Jerusalemites; i.e. the regulations of the “Permanent Residence” status, and those that were set for particular areas or circumstances such as the policies regarding the areas within the municipal boundaries but outside the segregation wall, and the collective punishment to a certain group of people. Furthermore, the analysis highlights the important role played by the Palestinian civil society organizations that emerged and developed in the absence of the state, discussing their history, challenges and scope of work. A short discussion is also introduced over foreign aid and the vital role played by International Organizations. The study recommends that the intervention of the international community at the political level is essential in order to promote the respect of the rights for the vulnerable Palestinian communities in East Jerusalem.This publication has been produced with the assistance of the European Union