Israel's Supreme Court upholds citizenship ban for Palestinian spouses

[News_Editor]

Israel's Supreme Court upholds citizenship ban for Palestinian spouses

2012-01-14 03:37:28 GMT+7 (ICT)

JERUSALEM (BNO NEWS) -- Israel's Supreme Court on Thursday refused to overturn a law which bans Palestinians with Israeli spouses from gaining citizenship, the Haaretz newspaper reported on Friday.

The judges were divided in their stance on the Citizenship Law, with six justices voting to uphold it and five opposing it. The legal challenge was mounted by the Adalah Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, the Association of Civil Rights in Israel, affected individuals and others.

"The High Court of Justice today approved a law the likes of which does not exist in any democratic state in the world, depriving citizens from maintaining a family life in Israel only on the basis of the ethnic affiliation of the male or female spouse," the Adalah Center said in a statement. "The ruling proves how much the situation regarding the civil rights of the Arab minority in Israel is declining into a highly dangerous and unprecedented situation."

The Israeli government generally grants citizenship to foreign spouses of Israelis in a gradual process, but a temporary order issued in 2002 excluded Palestinian spouses from these processes and barred them from becoming Israeli citizens.

The Citizenship Law was temporary legislation when it was issued in 2002, but it has since been extended twice. The law only allows reunification in Israel of Palestinians with an Israeli spouse if it involves a Palestinian husband who is at least 36 years old or if it involves a Palestinian wife who is at least 26.

Since 1993, more than 100,000 Palestinians have obtained Israeli permits and some Israelis see this as a security threat.

-- © BNO News All rights reserved 2012-01-14

[flying]

How very.......unprogressive.

But I guess it is not unlike some other countries.....

Edited January 13, 2012 by flying

[Ulysses G.]

This is all about preventing terrorism and Israel has good reason to fear it. It is too bad that the hateful actions of Islamic terrorists restrict the freedoms of everyone else.

Edited January 13, 2012 by Ulysses G.

[flying]

Yes what ever the reason used it has to be hard on married couples.

I wonder if Palestine allows an Israeli citizenship based on marriage to a Palestinian?

Kind of shows how far the world has not come.

Even in Thailand I hear it is very hard for a foreign male to get citizenship based on marriage

to a Thai woman.....Yet funny I hear it is easy for a foreign woman who marries a Thai man to

obtain citizenship.....or was that permanent residence? I think it was citizenship.

Edited January 13, 2012 by flying

[Scott]

I think it's Permanent Residence Status that is relatively easy to get. Citizenship seems to be more difficult, in Thailand. Information on that subject can be found in the Visa forum.

[Steely Dan]

In terms of quid pro quo, simply recognizing Israel's right to exist would likely lead to reciprocal concessions. Countries are at liberty to make their own rules and these do reflect politics and history, for instance I believe visa regs for Dutch citizens visiting Indonesia are tighter than for any other western nation, which is no doubt a throwback to colonial history.

P.S In a wider context this thread seems to be one of a growing collection which could serve to further an Israeli apartheid meme, though this crumbles into dust when her neighbors are given similar scrutiny.

[Ulysses G.]

I think it's Permanent Residence Status that is relatively easy to get. .

I could easily be wrong, but I always thought that it has been a few years since Thailand has actually granted Permanent Residence to Westerners. I was considering it at one time, but, if I remember correctly, it is expensive to apply and you do not get your money back if they turn you down and no one was getting it at that time - at least that is what I was told and did not bother to look into it any further. There was no Thai Visa.com at that time, so it could have changed by now.

Edited January 14, 2012 by Ulysses G.

[Morch]

As far as I know, the actual numbers of relevant couples aren't as high as one might think. One reason for this is that while showing political solidarity with Palestinians, Arabs who live in Israel tend to see them as (in general) as not such a hot marriage prospect. This has to do with the different levels of education and the social status of women. A certain amount of, how shall I put it....looking down, maybe, is present when the context isn't political.

The court ruling and indeed, the law itself are unfortunate, in my opinion. Taking into account the not-so-large number of such cases, and seeing as the actual involvement in terrorist acts by Palestinians married to Israeli Arabs is not significantly higher then otherwise (you can also be sure they are monitored to some extent by security forces) - the threat is not a real issue here.

This has more to do with the general Israeli paranoia over the Palestinian "Right of Return" (which considering the Palestinian views, is not entirely unfounded), and the current political map in Israel, which leans to the more nationalistic, right-wing parties. One of the manifestations of the political situation is the recent re-shuffle in the supreme court, which saw more right-wing sympathetic judges appointed. The ruling was made on a majority of one vote - might have gone the other way if this happened a couple of months ago.

Edited January 14, 2012 by Morch

[Morch]

I wonder if Palestine allows an Israeli citizenship based on marriage to a Palestinian?

Palestine isn't a state yet, so whatever it is they grant isn't exactly citizenship.

For Jewish Israelis, there is no such possibility, and anyway just a handful who would be interested (the exceptions being some ultra religious ones that see the existance of Israel as an defying God's will, and maybe some ultra left-wing anarchists).

For Arab Israelis, it is possible, though not really easy (suspicions run high on both sides of the fence). In addition, most wouldn't want to lose their Israeli citizenship as it allows more civic freedoms and economical oppertunities.