State Dept. calling East Jerusalem Palestinians ‘Arab residents’ or ‘non-Israeli citizens’

Image by Getty Images
WASHINGTON (JTA) — The State Department referred to Palestinians living in East Jerusalem as “Arab residents” and “non-Israeli citizens,” ditching the traditional term “Palestinian residents” in a move that continues the Trump administration’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.
Reuters first reported the change Wednesday, which was evident in language in the latest State Department human rights report. West Bank residents are still described as Palestinian in the report.
Why it matters:
The overwhelming majority of Palestinians in Jerusalem, numbering some 340,000, prefer to be known as “Palestinian.” Palestinians have long sought East Jerusalem as the capital of a future Palestinian state.
The move could inflame tensions in the debate over President Trump’s recently released Middle East peace plan, which would see Israel incorporate land that much of the international community sees as illegally occupied.
“Palestinian Jerusalemites are Palestinians, and they’ve been living there for centuries,” Hanan Ashrawi, a senior Palestine Liberation Organization official who lives in Jerusalem, told Reuters. “Just to decide this, to eradicate their identity and history and culture and rename them at will, is not only preposterous, it’s unconscionable.”
The post US State Department now calls East Jerusalem Palestinians ‘Arab residents’ or ‘non-Israeli citizens’ appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
Readers like you make it all possible. We’ve started our Passover Fundraising Drive, and we need 1,800 readers like you to step up to support the Forward by April 21. Members of the Forward board are even matching the first 1,000 gifts, up to $70,000.
This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism, because every dollar goes twice as far.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
2X match on all Passover gifts!
Most Popular
- 1
News A Jewish Republican and Muslim Democrat are suddenly in a tight race for a special seat in Congress
- 2
Fast Forward The NCAA men’s Final Four has 3 Jewish coaches
- 3
Fast Forward Cory Booker proclaims, ‘Hineni’ — I am here — 19 hours into anti-Trump Senate speech
- 4
Film & TV What Gal Gadot has said about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
In Case You Missed It
-
Film & TV Why Robby said the Shema on ‘The Pitt’
-
Yiddish World Children taking part in a Seder while hiding from the Nazis
-
Fast Forward ADL upgrades 19 colleges’ antisemitism ‘grades,’ as some enact new policies
-
Fast Forward Brown U leaders praise Jewish life on campus as Trump expected to slash $500M
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
Republish This Story
Please read before republishing
We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines.
You must comply with the following:
- Credit the Forward
- Retain our pixel
- Preserve our canonical link in Google search
- Add a noindex tag in Google search
See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.
To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.