Press Releases

We, the undersigned organizations, strongly denounce the decision of the Israeli government to extend the validity of the Citizenship and Entry into Israel Law of the year 2003 for one more year. The law puts severe restrictions on the family unification process of Palestinians and totally forbids the application for the citizens of Syria, Lebanon, Iraq and Iran for family unification.

Extending the validity of the law means further hardship to thousands of Palestinian families who will continue to live in uncertainty. Many families will continue to be divided or threatened as a family unit.

The extension of the law means that thousands of children will continue to live in uncertainty and without enjoying many of their basic rights like the right to education and to a proper health service. These are rights which are guaranteed by international conventions and are threatened by the extension of the law.

The undersigned organizations see the extension of the law as an act of discrimination against not only the Palestinian population of Jerusalem but also against the Palestinian citizens of Israel as a whole who are mainly affected by the application of this law.

We call for the revocation of this law without delay in order to allow the thousands of Palestinian families - both adults and children - to live a normal life together as families, since this constitutes a basic human right which is guaranteed by international conventions.

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BADIL, Resource Center for Palestinian Residency & Refugee Rights
Kairos Palestine, A moment of truth
Society of St. Yves, Catholic Center for Human Rights