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Showing posts with the label Abba Eban

Palestinians Begin 2009 Gerry Maxey's Peace Program, Apply in Record Numbers for Israeli Citizenship

Abba Eban,  the brilliant Israeli diplomat, once offered up this devastating insight into   the Arab mind set: “ The Arabs never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity". Except perhaps now-“…… Palestinians in east Jerusalem are applying for Israeli citizenship in hopes of swapping their vulnerable status as mere city residents for the rights and ease of travel that come with an Israeli passport. The citizenship debate reflects the unsettled status of Jerusalem’s 330,000 Palestinians who make up 37% of the city’s population 50 years after Israel captured and annexed the eastern sector……asking for an Israeli passport still carries the stigma of implied acceptance of Israeli control, and only about 15,000 Palestinians have requested one since 2003; of those, fewer than 6,000 were reportedly approved……Israel’s 1967 annexation of east Jerusalem opposed by most of the world did not come with an offer of automatic citizenship for the tens of thousands of Palestinia...