Talk:Teudat Zehut

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[edit] Orange cards

The clause about the orange cards is wrong and outdated. There used to be orange ID cards issued by the IDF Civil Administration to residents of the occupied Palestinian Territories, during the period the IDF was in charge of civil affairs in these territories. However, since the establishment of the Palestinian Authority, the PA issues its residents with ID cards (they happen to be green). All ID cards issued by the Israel Ministry of Interior are blue, regarless of nationality, citizenship or religion. Magister 05:46, 26 September 2005 (UTC)

[edit] More about colour

Magister-, when did the above change happen? Here is a Haaretz article from 1-Sep-2005, "A good friend jumps the fence" (emphases are mine)

Last week, two more white flags went up in the village, one at the groom's home and one at the bride's. The fireworks that were set off in honor of the occasion lit up the entire village. But the groom came from the Sheikh Sa'ad neighborhood, which is located in West Bank territory, and the bride's family lives in the Israeli part of the village. The bride has a blue Israeli identity card, while the groom possesses an orange one, like the residents of the territories. Like many of the villagers, he is a plasterer; when he goes to work in Jerusalem, he takes a risk.

Jabal Mukkaber is named for Omar Ibn al-Khattab, a disciple of Mohammed and the second Caliph, who cried out "Allahu Akbar" here. Sheikh Sa'ad was a Muslim sage from Spain. While returning from Mecca one time, he stopped at Jabal Mukkaber and died there. Many miracles and wonders are ascribed to him; his grave is said to protect the village from thieves. It's not easy to figure out why Israel annexed only six of the village's seven neighborhoods. The village's total population is currently about 14,000. Whatever the reason, up to now, the dividing line between the annexed neighborhoods and Sheikh Sa'ad that remained outside has been essentially nonexistent. Holders of blue and orange identity cards lived in either part and the Jerusalem municipality provided services to all of them.

Some identify the place with the Hill of Evil Counsel from the New Testament; the UN headquarters, formerly the residence of the British High Commissioner, is not far away. Nowadays, a large guard tower is going up on the edge of the village; it seems to have been brought from somewhere else, but it apparently is connected to the mighty concrete wall that is supposed to isolate Jerusalem from the West Bank. The wall is slated to bisect Jabal Mukkaber; the Sheikh Sa'ad neighborhood will remain outside and its 1,700 residents will be cut off from their relatives and from the center of their lives, including workplaces, schools and hospitals. In Sheikh Sa'ad there is no grocery store or post office branch; the clinic only operates twice a week for a few hours; the schools only go up to sixth grade. The nearest village is far from there, separated from Jabal Mukkaber by desert wadis that are home to foxes and snakes; there is no road. Holders of blue identity cards who have built homes in Sheikh Sa'ad stand to lose their property.

Two weeks after several thousand Israelis were evacuated from Gush Katif and their communities destroyed, in accordance with the separation principle, there's something surrealistic about the demand of the Palestinians from Sheikh Sa'ad to live in Israel. From the roof of one house in the village, you can see Talpiot, the Jerusalem neighborhood that is home to Hillel Bardin, a veteran peace activist who is trying to help his Arab neighbors through, among other things, all sorts of demonstrations of friendship.

Bardin and friends pose a thorny challenge to the accepted line of thinking on the left: In Jabal Mukkaber, the correct leftist position actually requires annexation and inclusion, not disengagement and separation.

Village residents are not fighting against the wall itself; they just want to extend it, so that it will encompass Sheikh Sa'ad, too. Holders of orange identity cards are not seeking to exchange them for blue ones; they just wish to be issued permanent entry permits to Israel. The Defense Ministry insists on having the separation fence stick to the predetermined route, arguing that Sheikh Sa'ad and Jabal Mukkaber are two distinct localities. But in other places, the Defense Ministry is also leaving tens of thousands of Jerusalem residents, holders of blue identity cards, outside the separation fence. The authorities also claimed that this is considered a hostile village; the residents presented a letter from Yitzhak Rabin, ostensibly proving the opposite.

So, in the meantime, I'd like to put the paragraph back in, with a comment about PA issued cards, unless we come up with a better solution. Owen× ☎ 21:20, 26 September 2005 (UTC)

P.S. Do you have an exact date of when the Ministry stopped issuing orange Identity cards? If so, please add it to the article instead of the "recently" that is there now. Thanks! Owen× ☎ 21:34, 26 September 2005 (UTC)

I will try to enquire. Anyway, as you worded it now, is is correct. Magister 21:52, 26 September 2005 (UTC)

If I remember correctly, the IDF issued both Orange and Green ID cards to the Palestinians. The Orange were the default, and the green indicated that its holder was not allowed to enter Israel (in the time they were allowed to), or maybe also leave the territories to Jordan.
I think that the IDF stopped issuing these ID's somwtime during the 90's, when the PA started to issue them (all in Green). However, I think that physically they are still manufactured in the same place in Israel, and looks just the same, only with the symbol of the PA.
eman 23:19, 27 September 2005 (UTC)