JERUSALEM, March 17, 2011 (WAFA – Palestinian residents of Jerusalem living behind the concrete wall Israel had built to separate East Jerusalem from its West Bank environs said they were told by the West Jerusalem municipality that they do not anymore have to pay the municipal tax known as arnona, Thursday said a Palestinian rights center.

The Jerusalem Center for Social and Economic Rights said in a report that this new policy aims at getting rid of thousands of Jerusalem residents who live behind the wall from the city.

It said that by telling residents of these areas that they do not have to pay the arnona tax anymore after years of paying it, it means they will eventually not be considered Jerusalem residents and therefore lose all their residency rights.

The report said an official from the municipality had announced last year that the Wall will isolate 55,000 Jerusalem residents, serving Israel’s demographic purpose. However, the center said it actually affects more than twice this number.

The municipality stopped providing the Palestinians living behind the wall in the northern sections  of the city adequate services since the second Intifada in 2000. It set up separate civil offices for them, but services were scarce.

Israel has withdrawn residency rights from 14,466 since 1967, said the center. Nevertheless, Jerusalem families who had left it continue to return to live in their city.

The arnona tax is levied on commercial and residential buildings by the local municipality, which make up approximately 50% of the council’s budget for municipal services.

M.N./M.A.