Israelization: Reshaping Life in Occupied Jerusalem

“Israelization” in occupied Jerusalem takes multiple forms as part of the occupation’s plans to impose full control over the city. Alongside escalating schemes to alter Jerusalem’s identity—through settlement expansion, land confiscation, home demolitions, and reshaping the city’s urban landscape—occupation policies aim to restructure Palestinian society in occupied Jerusalem. This is carried out through a range of tools and policies designed to reshape the social and institutional environment of Palestinians in the occupied city, targeting vital sectors of Jerusalemites’ daily lives, foremost among them education, municipal services, and economic activity.

This trajectory carries serious risks, chief among them isolating Palestinians from any meaningful support network—whether educational, charitable, or healthcare-related. This prevents them from building any communal structure independent of the occupation’s system and institutions, deepening their sense of alienation in their own city while imposing further restrictions on Palestinian sectors in an attempt to dismantle them entirely. Ultimately, this forms part of the occupying power’s broader effort to gradually alter lifestyles as well as social and cultural structures, paving the way for deeper “Israelization” of Palestinians’ daily lives.

“Israelization”: Reshaping Identity and Daily Life in Occupied Jerusalem

At the outset, it is essential to define what “Israelization” entails. In the context of the ongoing offensive against occupied Jerusalem, it refers to a dual-track process: on one hand, assimilating Palestinians into Israeli culture, language, and lifestyle in order to reshape their identity and redefine their sense of self and belonging; on the other, integrating them into the occupation’s institutions and broader society. Ultimately, through a series of measures and restrictions, Israeli authorities seek to shift Palestinian society in Jerusalem from a Palestinian-anchored social, economic, and educational sphere into an institutional framework subordinate to the occupation.

Education in Jerusalem: The Frontline Against “Israelization”

Israeli authorities systematically target Jerusalem’s education sector given its vital role in shaping Palestinian generations’ awareness of their history, identity, and struggle, as well as the central role of knowledge in the liberation movement. Consequently, the occupation has launched an all-out assault on Palestinian curricula, schools, and educational authorities alike—seeking to impose total control over the sector in the occupied city by exploiting the fragmented governance of schools in East Jerusalem.

Estimates indicate a rise in the proportion of Palestinian students enrolled in Israeli curricula over recent years, driven by occupation measures and mounting restrictions on Palestinian schools—reaching roughly 27 percent of the total student body in East Jerusalem.

Despite the occupation’s efforts to impose its curricula on Palestinian schools, Israeli human rights groups have revealed a persistent school dropout crisis, with the dropout rate reaching roughly 3.4 percent—meaning around 3,000 students are out of school. These groups attribute the high dropout rates to an alienating school environment, severe classroom overcrowding, and an acute shortage of educational facilities.

According to a report by the human rights organization Ir Amim, East Jerusalem suffers from an acute shortage of classrooms, estimated at around 2,283 classrooms. The organization points to the negligence of the occupation municipality in fulfilling its obligations, noting that even if its current construction plan were fully implemented, a deficit of nearly 1,100 classrooms would still remain by 2032.

The targeting of the education sector does not stop there. From plans to impose Israeli curricula and ban the Palestinian curriculum, to ending the operations of UNRWA and completely shuttering its schools, and ultimately revoking school licenses in occupied Jerusalem—all of these measures serve a central objective: establishing total occupation control over the education sector. Coupled with the weakening of Palestinian educational alternatives and the erosion of the authorities overseeing these schools, these factors warrant close examination given the cumulative impact they threaten to leave on future generations.

The Healthcare Sector: Another Tool to Subjugate Jerusalemites to Occupation Policies

The tools used to target Palestinian communal infrastructure in Jerusalem extend from education to the healthcare sector—one of the most vital pillars of Jerusalemites’ steadfastness and attachment to the city, particularly given the critical role played by Palestinian hospitals and health centers in providing specialized medical care.

In this context, Palestinian healthcare institutions face an array of challenges—including funding shortfalls, movement restrictions, and the harassment of both facilities and medical staff—undermining their capacity to sustain operations and deliver care.

This issue takes on added significance given that Jerusalem’s hospitals serve as a vital referral hub for Palestinian patients from the West Bank and the Gaza Strip—meaning that weakening them strikes at a broader Palestinian healthcare system that extends well beyond the city’s boundaries.

Furthermore, requiring Israeli permits to access several healthcare facilities in Jerusalem—along with the frequent delays or denials of such applications—turns access to medical treatment into a privilege contingent on the occupation’s procedures and restrictions.

“Center of Life”: How the Occupation Weaponizes Residency to Restrict Palestinian Presence in Jerusalem

Among the tools that go beyond targeting institutions to directly impacting the daily lives of Jerusalemites is the “Center of Life” policy. Tied to Jerusalemites’ precarious legal status as “permanent residents,” this policy requires them to continuously prove that Jerusalem remains their primary place of residence in order to retain the rights associated with that status.

Israeli authorities subject Jerusalemites to administrative and legal scrutiny based on a strict set of criteria. These include place of residence and employment, where their immediate family lives, their children’s schools, utility bills for water and electricity, municipal taxes, and other documentation required to prove that their center of life lies within the boundaries of occupied Jerusalem.

Alongside the constant fear of losing permanent residency in the city, the risks posed by these measures extend to social benefits and healthcare coverage. A Jerusalemite’s access to entitlements under Israel’s National Insurance Law and Health Insurance Law remains contingent on the continued recognition of their residency and center of life within the city.

In this sense, Jerusalemites find themselves caught in a stark paradox: they are forced to continuously prove their ties to the city at the very same time that occupation policies are tightening the conditions for their survival there—driving up housing and living costs while eroding their Palestinian institutions and support structures.

Ultimately, these policies form part of a broader apparatus targeting Palestinians, revealing that the occupation is moving simultaneously against both Jerusalem and its residents. This dual campaign spans from seizing land and altering the city’s urban and demographic landscape to attempting to reshape Palestinian society and control the institutions that govern daily life—foremost among them education, healthcare, and municipal services.

In this context, efforts to impose Israeli curricula, weaken healthcare institutions, and subject residency to the “Center of Life” criterion converge within an escalating trajectory. This trajectory aims to curtail the autonomy of Jerusalemite society, erode its national and social anchors, and push its residents toward growing dependence on the occupation’s institutions.

Building on this, the foremost tools for countering these occupation policies lie in safeguarding Palestinian institutions in Jerusalem, bolstering their capacity to sustain operations and deliver essential services, and expanding educational, healthcare, and social support networks. Such efforts are vital to preserving the autonomy and institutional anchors of Jerusalemite society, while empowering its residents to hold fast to their identity and their rightful place in the city.