An east Jerusalem Palestinian has filed a complaint against Israel's Post Office after a clerk refused to let him open a bank account, an Israeli newspaper reported on Thursday.
The unnamed man said Post Office employees told him he could not open a postal bank account if he did not speak Hebrew fluently or was a resident of the city's mostly Arab eastern sector, the Haaretz daily said.
The man, who is reportedly fluent in Hebrew, said he was humiliated and degraded, with one clerk telling him: "If you spoke like this in east Jerusalem, you'd be thrown down the stairs," the paper said, citing a letter of complaint filed by his lawyer.
In a response to Haaretz, the Post Office expressed its regret for the incident and said disciplinary action would be taken against the worker.
"Anyone may open a postal bank account, at any branch, any time, regardless of religion, race and sex. The company provides services to all Israelis including from east Jerusalem," the Post Office said, noting it also provides forms in Arabic.
More than 270,000 Arabs live in east Jerusalem, which was occupied by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war and annexed shortly after, in a move not recognised by the international community.
Very few of them hold Israeli citizenship although Palestinian residents of the city enjoy special status which access to Israeli social services and allows them free movement throughout Israel, unlike those from the West Bank.
Nevertheless, they complain of frequent and systematic discrimination.
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