From Jerusalem Bureau Chief Walter Rodgers

JERUSALEM (CNN) -- The percentage of who lives where in Jerusalem is hotly contested.

The battle -- the population battle -- is not over western Jerusalem, which is overwhelmingly Jewish, but in eastern Jerusalem, where most of the city's Arab population lives.

Two human rights groups are charging the Israeli government with trying to reduce the number of Palestinians living in eastern Jerusalem.

One of the groups, Betselem, accuses the government of carrying out a policy of quiet deportation. According to the group, the Israelis either revoke or refuse to renew identity cards for Palestinians wanting to live in Jerusalem.

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CNN's Walter Rodgers reports
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The Israeli government disputes the validity of the report. They also deny there's any systematic deportation and say they're trying to reduce bureaucratic hassles with Palestinian identity cards.

Recent Israeli statistics show that in the last 30 years, the Arab population of Jerusalem has grown almost one-third faster than the Jewish population. The current population ratio is 70 percent Jewish, 30 percent Arab.

According to the Jerusalem Institute for Israel Studies, the Arab population in Jerusalem has been growing steadily every year in the 1990s.

A year ago, CNN incorrectly reported the Arab population was dwindling. The Arab population in Jerusalem was actually increasing at that time, not dwindling.