by Saud Abu Ramadan, Emad Drimly
RAMALLAH, May 12 (Xinhua) -- Recent polls have shown a dramatic shift in the political preferences of the Palestinians in East Jerusalem, where a majority of them rejected Israeli citizenship.
Two years after U.S. President Donald Trump recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, the Palestinians, who live in the eastern part of the holy city, have shown anger against the policies Israel adopts against them.
According to the polls conducted by the Washington Institute for Near East Policy throughout 2018-2019 and in the first two months of 2020, there was a dramatic shift in the political preferences of the Palestinians in East Jerusalem, where about 15 percent only preferred Israeli citizenship.
Polls conducted throughout 2010-2015 showed that 52 percent of the Palestinians in East Jerusalem had preferred Israeli citizenship over the Palestinian one. However, the recent polls showed the opposite, due to the repressive Israeli policies against the Palestinians, according to analysts.
Adnan Abu Aamer, a Gaza-based political science professor at al-Ummah University and specialized in Israeli affairs, told Xinhua "there are political, economic, and social developments that contributed altogether in creating the shift in the political preferences of the Palestinians in East Jerusalem."
"The complaints of the Palestinians in East Jerusalem from the Israeli brutal and repressive policies against their existence have increased, mainly the policies that are based on demolishing their homes, tightening their daily living and discriminating them with the Jewish citizens in the city," said Abu Aamer.
He clarified that the Israeli policies against the Palestinians in Jerusalem "are the main reason ... and believed that Israeli citizenship doesn't bring them benefits."
The Israeli Haaretz daily published last year a report which accused Israel of treating the Palestinian citizens of East Jerusalem from a security perspective and most of the Israelis who are authorized to deal with the Palestinians in Jerusalem are former Israeli interior security officers.
According to official Palestinian figures, around 300,000 Palestinians live in East Jerusalem, which was occupied by Israel in 1967. They always say that they suffer from an Israeli policy that aims at reducing their numbers in the city.
However, the Israeli municipality of Jerusalem denied the Palestinians' accusations and says the municipality treats the citizens of the city, Palestinians and Israelis equally.
In 2018, Israel Radio reported that the rate of poverty among the Palestinians in East Jerusalem had reached 75 percent, while the rate of poverty among the Israelis reached 29 percent.
Husam al-Dajjani, a Gaza-based political analyst, told Xinhua that a series of laws and bills were approved by the Israeli government over the last few years, such as "the Nation-State Law".
"Such laws contributed to unveil the reality of Israel to the Palestinian citizens of Jerusalem," he said. "All military orders and decisions which had been taken by the Israeli governments including taxes and building up the fence had made the Palestinians in the city change their minds."
The direct Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations stopped in 2014, where all signs indicate that the possibility of resuming it is low due to the deep difference between the two sides on many issues, mainly the issue of settlements and Jerusalem.
Resuming the peace talks between the two sides became impossible after Trump declared in late 2017 Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, and in 2018 moved the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
Israel considers the eastern and western parts of the holy city of Jerusalem as its eternal capital, a fact that is rejected by the Palestinians, who insist that the eastern part of the city "must be the capital of the Palestinian state."
Aadel Samara, a political analyst from the West Bank, told Xinhua that "for national reasons, the Palestinians in East Jerusalem are still sticking to their Palestinian identity although some individuals prefer getting Israeli citizenship."
"The anti-Israel position of the Palestinians in East Jerusalem has been growing over the past a few years," said Samara, adding "this position is the natural outcome of the Israeli-American aggression against the Palestinian cause." Enditem
