The Israeli occupation authorities today revoked the health insurance of 16 former Palestinian prisoners and their families in the occupied city of East Jerusalem, according to an activist.
Speaking in a phone interview with WAFA, Chairman of the Jerusalem Residents Committee, Amjad Abu Asab, said that the decision to revoke the health insurance of the former prisoners and their families was all of a sudden discovered when a formerly imprisoned senior Fatah member, Shadi Matur, along with two others sought medical care at health centers in the city.
He cautioned that the occupation authorities may revoke the health insurance of more former prisoners, as he slammed the decision as part of the authorities’ crackdown on Jerusalemite Palestinians to break their will, given the latter’s participation in confronting assaults on Al-Aqsa mosque and faced expulsions in Sheikh Jarrah.
While the occupation authorities claim that Matur and other former prisoners don’t reside within the city borders to be eligible for the insurance allowances, Abu Asab refused these claims, as all those whose medical insurances were revoked reside in Jerusalem’s Old City, including some who are placed under house arrest there.
He warned that this decision threatens to ignite the situation, particularly given the high cost of medication.
While Israeli depicts Palestinian former prisoners as being involved in “incitement activities against Jews”, the former prisoners along other Jerusalemite Palestinians stress their right to protest Israel’s brutal settler-colonialism in the city, and maintain that such a decision is intended to intimidate and discipline those who participated in the recent protests and crush their resilience and resistance to Israel’s apartheid and colonial regime and settler mob violence.
Although Palestinians in East Jerusalem, a part of the internationally recognized Palestinian Territory that has been subject to Israeli military occupation since 1967, they are denied their citizenship rights and are instead classified only as “residents” whose permits can be revoked if they move away from the city for more than a few years.
They are also discriminated against in all aspects of life including housing, employment and services, and are unable to access services in the West Bank due to the construction of Israel’s separation wall.
Source: Palestine news & Information Agency – WAFA