Egypt: Marry an Israeli, lose your citizenship

Posted By Sylvie Stein Monday, June 7, 2010 - 3:04 PM Share

Forget Iran slapping Israel with "political sanctions" -- Egypt may launch a marital embargo against the Jewish state.

On the heels of a restrictive 2005 fatwa, Egypt's supreme administrative court has upheld a decision to revoke the citizenship of Egyptian men married to Israeli women. The children of those cross-national unions could be officially stripped of their Egyptian nationality, as well, in order to legally omit a generation of citizens that Nabil al-Wahsh, a lawyer in the case, describes as inherently "disloyal to Egypt and the Arab world." The ruling, if uniformly enforced, would reduce the country's citizenry by as many as 30,000 people.

The court stipulated that judgments be delivered on a case-by-case basis. "The court asks the ministry of interior to present all the marriages to the cabinet to examine," said supreme administrative court judge Mohammed al-Husseini. "Each case should be investigated separately and with consideration to personal freedoms and the nation's security." In more concrete terms, this means Egyptian men married to Arab Israeli women would probably be more likely to be allowed to maintain their residencies than those married to ethnically Israeli women.

Though the decision compels the Interior Ministry to request that the cabinet consider enforcing the ruling, the Egyptian government will not necessarily annul any citizenships. Still, the extremity of the judgment illuminates a growing discrepancy between Egypt's official stance towards its northeastern neighbor (Egypt being one of few Arab states that practices full diplomacy with Israel) and what seem to be -- in the midst of the incendiary situation in the Gaza Strip -- increasingly hostile sentiments towards Israel on the streets of the Arab world's most populous country.

MAHMOUD ZAYAT/AFP/Getty Images

EXPLORE:MIDDLE EAST, EGYPT
 

TLAW

1:28 AM ET

June 8, 2010

"Ethnically Israeli" doesn't

"Ethnically Israeli" doesn't mean anything. Why can't you just say "Jewish"?

 

VEER12345

2:08 AM ET

June 8, 2010

JOB IN BPO CALL CENTER

VEER RAWAT
HI YOU WANT TO JOB IN BPO CALL CENTER ........
Outsourcing

 

BLUE13326

9:40 AM ET

June 8, 2010

Substitute 'black' for

Substitute 'black' for 'Israeli' and listen to liberals howl.

Eh, maybe not so much these days.

 

VILKSSWEDEN

11:08 AM ET

June 8, 2010

Egypt, like Jordan, has taken a two track policy

of peace and cooperation with Israel on numerous governmental levels while promoting anti-Israel behavior and thought on the popular level.

Fouad Ajami has succinctly summarized the Egyptian-Israeli asymmetry in the peace equation: "Egypt has not committed itself to an intellectual struggle for peace." The Egyptians have not yet adapted themselves to a true reconciliation with Israel, in large part because the Egyptian leadership has done nothing to transform public opinion and lead it in that direction.

Egypt has assiduously amassed the fruits of peace, primarily U.S. aid on a large scale. But it has refused to see its diplomatic and cultural relations with Israel as a fruit of peace.

 

GRATT

1:20 PM ET

June 8, 2010

Imagine if it was the other way around?

If an Israeli man married an Egyptian or Jordanian citizen (or a citizen of another Arab nation) and also resided in their spouse’s home country. What would be the reaction if his citizenship is revoked or the option of citizenship is denied to his offspring?

Can you imagine the cries of racism, bigotry, and apartheid? Particularly if the Israeli was of Arab origin, but if it is done the other way around it is explained as a type of “resistance” to the “Zionist entity.”

Funny how we can tolerate hate when it suits our political agenda.

 

Passport, FP’s flagship blog, brings you news and hidden angles on the biggest stories of the day, as well as insights and under-the-radar gems from around the world.

Read More