Further Strengthening of Israel's Racist Apartheid System
On July 31, the Israeli Knesset passed a law which prevents Palestinians who marry Israelis from obtaining Israeli citizenship or living in Israel. The vote, which the Sharon government declared a confidence vote, passed by 53 to 25, with one abstention. The law was written solely to restrict Palestinians from living in Israeli or obtaining Israeli citizenship; people of other nationalities are not affected.
This new law reverses the practice of family reunification that has been in place since 1967, under which Israelis who married residents of the Occupied Territories could apply for family reunification. That process itself was criticized by human rights activists, who pointed out the lengthy checks carried out sometimes resulted in families not being unified for years.
The law just passed by the Knesset is retroactive, meaning all couples who have not yet received status under the unification process must either separate or leave their country. As well, under the law, children of Israeli residents who were born in the Occupied Territories are only allowed to live in Israel until the age of 12. It is not yet clear whether or not if they will be deported on their 12th birthdays, although that is what some legislators seem to be suggesting.
Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch sent a joint letter to the Knesset urging members to reject the bill. They describe it as "profoundly discriminatory. A law permitting such blatant racial discrimination on grounds of ethnicity or nationality … clearly violates international human rights law and treaties which Israel has ratified and pledged to uphold."
Similar racist laws have been universally condemned by the international community. South Africa, for example, was the target of international boycotts and sanctions for its apartheid regime and legislation. The regime of Slobodan Milosovic used much the same language as that being used by the leaders of the Likkud Party to excuse their enactment of racist and discriminatory laws against the Kosovars, who they claimed represented a security risk. And the most notorious example from the 20th century was of course Nazi Germany, which developed civil legislation aimed at ensuring racial purity by preventing marriage between Jews and "Aryans".
The Knesset's vote is a clear indication that far from moving towards peace, Israel's apartheid system is becoming more deeply entrenched..