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ADALAH'S NEWSLETTER
Volume 25, May 2006

Excerpts of International Condemnation of the Nationality and Entry into Israel Law

I. United Nations Human Rights Treaty Bodies

UN Human Rights Committee (monitors States’ Parties compliance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, ratified by Israel in 1991)

Paragraph 21 of the Concluding Observations of the UN Human Rights Committee: Israel, 21 August 2003 (CCPR/CO/78/ISR)

[…]
21. The Committee is concerned about Israel's temporary suspension order of May 2002, enacted into law as the Nationality and Entry into Israel Law (Temporary Order) on 31 July 2003, which suspends, for a renewable one-year period, the possibility of family reunification, subject to limited and subjective exceptions especially in the cases of marriages between an Israeli citizen and a person residing in the West Bank and in Gaza. The Committee notes with concern that the suspension order of May 2002 has already adversely affected thousands of families and marriages.

The State party should revoke the Nationality and Entry into Israel Law (Temporary Order) of 31 July 2003, which raises serious issues under articles 17, 23 and 26 of the Covenant. The State party should reconsider its policy with a view to facilitating family reunification of all citizens and permanent residents. It should provide detailed statistics on this issue, covering the period since the examination of the initial report.

UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (monitors States’ Parties compliance with the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, ratified by Israel in 1979)

Decision 2(63) of the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, 14 August 2003 (CERD/C/63/Misc.11/Rev.1)

The Committee is concerned about Israel’s Temporary Suspension Order of May 2002 enacted into law as the Nationality and Entry into Israel Law (Temporary Order) on 31 July 2003, which suspends, for a renewable one-year period, the possibility of family reunification, subject to limited and discretionary exceptions, in the cases of marriages between an Israeli citizen and a person residing in the West Bank or Gaza. The Committee notes with concern that the Suspension Order of May 2002 has already adversely affected many families and marriages. The Nationality and Entry into Israel Law (Temporary Order) on 31 July 2003 raises serious issues under the International Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination. The State party should revoke this law, and reconsider its policy with a view to facilitating family unification on a non-discriminatory basis. It should provide detailed information on this issue in its next periodic report.

Decision 2(65) of the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, 20 August 2004 (CERD/C/65Dec.2)

The Committee recalls that in its decision 1 (63), it called for the revocation of Israel’s Temporary Suspension Order of May 2002, enacted into law as the Nationality and Entry into Israel Law (Temporary Order) on 31 July 2003, which suspended, for a renewable one-year period, the possibility of family reunification, subject to limited and discretionary exceptions, in cases of marriage between an Israeli citizen and a person residing in the West Bank or Gaza. The Committee noted with concern that the Suspension Order of May 2002 had already adversely affected many families and marriages, and that the Nationality and Entry into Israel Law (Temporary Order) of 31 July 2003 raised serious issues under the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.

Bearing in mind the renewal for a period of six months until 31 December 2004 of the Temporary Suspension Order of May 2002, enacted into law as the Nationality and Entry into Israel Law (Temporary Order) on 31 July 2003, in disregard of the Committee’s request for revocation, the Committee reiterates this request;

UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (monitors States’ Parties compliance with the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women, ratified by Israel in 1991)

Paragraph 33 of the Concluding Observations of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women: Israel, 22 July 2005

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33. The Committee is concerned about the State party’s temporary suspension order of May 2002, enacted into law as the Nationality and Entry into Israel Law (Temporary Order) of 31 July 2003, which suspends the possibility, subject to limited and subjective exceptions, of family reunification, especially in cases of marriages between an Israeli citizen and a person residing in the Occupied Territories. The Committee notes with concern that the suspension order, which has currently been extended through August 2005, has already adversely affected the marriages and family life of Israeli Arab women citizens and Palestinian women from the Occupied Territories.

34. The Committee calls on the State party to balance its security interests with the human rights of persons affected by such policies, and to reconsider them with a view to facilitating family reunification of all citizens and permanent residents. It calls on the State party to bring the Nationality and Entry into Israel law (Temporary Order) of 31 July 2003 into line with articles 9 and 16 of the Convention. It requests the State party to provide, in its next periodic report, detailed statistical information and analysis of the short- and long-term impact of this Order on affected women.

II. The European Parliament

The European Parliament Resolution on Human Rights in the World in 2002 and European Union's Human Rights Policy, 4 September 2003 (2002/2011(INI))

The European Parliament,

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40. Condemns the approval by the Knesset of a draft law prohibiting Palestinians from obtaining Israeli citizenship by marriage; calls on the Israeli government not to ratify or apply this discriminatory and racist law.

III. International Human Rights Organizations

Amnesty International

Press Release, "Israel/Occupied Territories: High Court Decision Institutionalizes Racial Discrimination," 16 May 2006

The decision by the Israeli High Court of Justice on 14 May to uphold a law which explicitly denies family rights on the basis of ethnicity or national origins is a step further in the institutionalization of racial discrimination in Israel. […] Five of the 11 High Court of Justice’s judges who ruled on this law on 14 May, including the Court’s President, voted against upholding the law, recognizing that it infringes human rights. The Court’s President, Aharon Barak, stated that the law violates the right of Israeli Arabs to equality. […] Amnesty International reiterates its call on the Israeli government and on Members of the Knesset to repeal this law and to ensure that any steps taken to address security concerns, including any amendments to the citizenship law, comply with international human rights law – notably the principle of non-discrimination.

The International Commission of Jurists

Press Release, “Israel/Occupied Territories: Fight against Terrorism used to Split Families and Violate Right to Family Life,” 18 May 2006

The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) today called on the Knesset to repeal a law that prevents Palestinians from the Occupied Territories being united with their Israeli spouses after a small majority of judges (6-5) upheld the law on 14 May. […] This law cuts through families solely because the husband or wife comes from the Occupied Territories. Such discrimination violates Israel’s international human rights obligations.

The International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH)

Joint Statement, “Israeli High Court Upholds Discriminatory Law against Palestinian Spouses,” 19 May 2006

FIDH and its member organizations in Israel, Adalah, the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) and B’tselem express their dismay at the dismissal of a petition presented by several organizations, lawyers and Israeli citizens demanding the annulment of the Nationality and Entry into Israel Law (Temporary Order) 5763-2003, which bans family reunification for Israeli married with Palestinian OPT residents. […] FIDH, ACRI, Adalah and B’tselem, therefore, renew their call to the Israeli authorities to annul the Law and especially its discriminatory and racist provisions, as well as to uphold their constitutional and international obligations towards the safeguard of right to family, regardless of nationality.

Human Rights Watch

Press Release, "Israel: Family Reunification Ruling Is Discriminatory," 19 May 2006

The Israeli Supreme Court’s decision to uphold a law barring Israeli citizens and their Palestinian spouses from the Occupied Palestinian Territories from living together in Israel constitutes unlawful discrimination that cannot be justified by the country’s security interests, Human Rights Watch said today. […] The Supreme Court has upheld a law that unfairly targets Israeli citizens of Palestinian origin [...] This ruling undermines the rights of thousands of Israelis to live together with their families, and the rights of certain Israeli children to live with both parents.