Israel Demonstrates once Again that it is a Shining Beacon of Democracy: Palestinian Marriage Law Passed

[tnitsuj]

This will go a long way to keeping Israel Ethnically and religiously "Jewish"

Palestinians who marry Israelis cannot reside


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Nina Gilbert Jul. 31, 2003

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Palestinians who marry Israelis or have other first-degree family ties won't be able to stay or reside in Israel or apply for citizenship under a government law approved by the Knesset on Thursday.

The law will be in effect for one year, after which it must be renewed annually by the Knesset.

The measure was approved in a 53-25 vote. Shas and United Torah Judaism MKs did not attend the vote. Likud MK Majali Whabee also did not vote.

The Sharon government halted family unification requests in April 2002 following the bombing of the Matza restaurant in Haifa that was perpetrated by a Palestinian Hamas terrorist who had obtained citizenship and a blue identity card when he married an Israeli Arab. Since then, the government has also expressed support for the measure as a means of halting the trend of Israeli-Palestinian couples establishing their home in Israel.

Under the law, the interior minister will retain the right to approve citizenship for Palestinians or their family members who "identify with Israel," or have made economic or security contributions to the state. The minister may also grant visitation rights for medical treatment or work purposes.

Palestinians who applied for citizenship or residency before the law was approved may be given a temporary permit to stay in Israel.

The law affects "residents of Judea, Samaria and the Gaza Strip, excluding Israeli settlements" even if the are not listed in the population registry.

MK Ahmed Tibi (Arab Movement for Change) said the law is "inhumane" because it "bans marriage between Palestinians and Israelis." Tibi said the law contradicts the Basic Law: Human Dignity and Freedom. He said he would not have been able to get citizenship for his wife if the law had been passed when he got married.

Likud MK Ehud Yatom said Shin Bet director Avi Dichter had informed the Interior Committee that there have been 19 cases of Palestinians, especially in east Jerusalem, who used blue identity cards obtained through family reunification to carry out terror attacks that claimed the lives of 87 people.

According to Yatom, the requests are overwhelmingly for Palestinian men to join wives in Israel, which Dichter told the committee said is "abnormal in the Arab world in which women follow their husbands."

Knesset Speaker Ruby Rivlin expressed opposition to the law, saying that it is making a "person guilty until proven innocent." He asked the government why the law had to be so sweeping and whether the current law enables the rejection of requests on security reasons.

National Union MK Yuri Stern, chairman of the Knesset Interior Committee, said that according to the law today the interior minister has the right to halt entry and the citizenship application process for security reasons. However, Stern said that in many cases there were "no signs of security risks."

Stern also said that since the Oslo accords were signed the number of family unification requests has doubled

Meretz MK Roman Bronfman said there are already enough tools to fight terror, adding that the legislation was brought to the Knesset "one year late." Bronfman said the legislation is also unnecessary because there is already a staged process whereby people who have a criminal or security record are investigated and can be rejected.

Meretz MK Yossi Sarid that besides the fact that the legislation is "unJewish" he warned that its passage would spark a wave of international protest. "The EU and UN will make our life miserable," he said. Sarid also said he feared it would encourage anti-Semitism.

Hadash leader Mohammed Barakei said that people who had "suffered so much from racism should be ashamed to bring such a bill."

MK Abdel Malik Dehamhe (United Torah Judaism) said the law was in effect implementing "transfer."

from The Jerusalem Post

 

[Lonyo]

Yay for Israel (!)
And they're not a threat to peace in the middle east?

According to Yatom, the requests are overwhelmingly for Palestinian men to join wives in Israel, which Dichter told the committee said is "abnormal in the Arab world in which women follow their husbands."

Well duh(!). Would you rather be oppressed/cut off from your work/land/get killed because the Israelis decide to use their helicopter to kill a few more kids, or live in Israel where there are better conditions? Seems obvious why they are doing it, quality of life. And its the Israeli's fault that the Palestinians are getting cut off from their land/jobs with their new "security" fence.

 

[LilBlinbBlahIce]

Yeah, and I still can't get over how jackoffs like Tom Delay can say Israel is just like us... maybe were just becoming more like them.

 

[Nitemare]

And we are complaining about homosexuals getting married.....

 

[tnitsuj]

The problem is, they are going to be forced to pass more and more of these laws irrespective of the security situation just to fight the demographic tends that point away from a "Jewish" majority.

 

[BarneyFife]

Originally posted by: tnitsuj
The problem is, they are going to be forced to pass more and more of these laws irrespective of the security situation just to fight the demographic tends that point away from a "Jewish" majority.

They have 2 choices.

1. Make peace and be friends.

2. Prepared to be swallowed when they get outnumbered 20-1 down the road.

 

[tnitsuj]

From Bnai Brith

I don't see how you can maintain a democracy in this situation. Aparthied or democracy...your choice.

relevant section:

"When low birth rates and assimilation are factored in, the number of Jews has remained nearly level at 12-13 million in the last half-century, even as the populations of other nationalities have risen dramatically. Recent demographic studies indicate that in the United States alone, the numbers of Jews are plummeting at a rate of 50,000 per annum. Many Jewish communities around the world, faced with the loss of a critical mass, have ceased to exist as living communities. Even in Israel, demographic studies indicate that Jews will shortly be a minority in the area between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River where Arab Muslim populations have some of the highest birth rates in the world. Analysts believe that Jews will maintain a majority for no more than 50 years within Israel?s 1948 borders should these demographic trends continue. "

 

[Moonbeam]

It's time for religious states to go. The notion is bigotry at it's core.

It is the right of the people to alter or to abolish their government, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness.