Are there Israeli - Palestinian couples existing in reality? Where do they live? In Israel or Palestine?
If your definition of “Israeli” includes not only Jewish Israeli but Palestinians who are Israeli citizens, there are thousands of couples/families. And there are also Palestinian-Jewish Israeli couples although not so many. In any case, because of official and unofficial discrimination and harassment, they are afraid to make themselves known to the public. The situations for couples made up of a Palestinian with Israeli citizenship and a Palestinian from the Occupied Palestinian Territory are especially severe since the Second Intifada and the subsequent responses by the Israeli government. Due to the Citizenship and Entry into Israel Law (Temporary Order) that prohibits Palestinian spouses from OPT gaining a residential permit to live in Israel, many couples and families are forced to live separately, and some Palestinian spouses must live in Israel secretly to avoid deportation.
The story of one couple with whom Mix It Up is in contact represents the hard reality many couples suffer. The Palestinian wife, who has Israeli citizenship and lives in Jerusalem, has not seen her husband, a Palestinian from OPT, for several years. Their children, who hold Israeli passports, split their time, spending it with their mother during weekdays, and with their father in Ramallah only on weekends. One time the two children called their father and desperately told him to come to Jerusalem to help them to beat up a bully in their neighborhood. Of course, their father could not apply for a permit to confront the neighborhood bully and protect his children, because his reason for wanting to come to Israel had nothing to do with sickness or death. The two kids could not show that their father is always behind them for protection, and might have felt that their father cannot be there when they need him badly.
Can Israelis and Palestinians get married with each other legally?
Israel) In Israel, religion authorizes marriage, meaning that civil marriage is not possible inside the country. You need to go through a religious ceremony to get a marriage license, which implies that only partners of the same faith (Jews with Jews, Muslims with Muslims, and Christians with Christians) can get married to each other. So, it depends on whether you two have the same religion or not. Couples of different faiths can go abroad to get married, for example, to Cyprus, and then register their marriage license issued by the foreign country to the Minister of Interior. The Israeli government recognizes marriage certificates issued by foreign countries.Otherwise one of you needs to go through a conversion to the same religion as the other to get married in Israel.
*MIXITUP strongly suggests that you talk to a lawyer before going through any wedding procedures abroad to make sure that your action will be legally recognized in Israel.
*In Israel, marriage between a Israeli citizen and Palestinian from OPT does not automatically mean that the couple will be able to live together because the Citizenship and Entry in Israel Law (Temporary Order) restricts Palestinians from gaining residential permits. You need to seek legal advice if you are planning to get married and live together in Israel.
Palestine) The answer is Yes and No. In Palestine too, religious laws and the court govern marriage. Shariya law allows only Muslim males to marry Christian or Jewish women. Muslim women are forbidden to marry men of a different faith. Thus, inside Palestine, only couples made up two Muslims or of a Muslim male and a Jewish or Christian female can get married. However, like Israel, the Palestinian authority recognizes marriage licenses issued by foreign governments, which makes it possible for Muslim women to marry men of a different faith abroad and register the license later in Palestine. If a couple made up of an Israel citizen and a person from OPT are married in the OPT, the certificate is recognized by the Israeli government as legitimate, although it does not necessary mean they will grant a residential/work permit to a Palestinian spouse due to the Citizenship and Entry into Israel Law.
* MIXITUP strongly suggests that you talk to a lawyer before going through any wedding procedures abroad to make sure that your action will be legally recognized.
What is the The Citizenship and Entry into Israel Law, by the way?
The Citizenship and Entry into Israel Law (Temporary Order), directly targeting couples made up of Palestinians with Israeli citizenship and Palestinians from the OPT, prohibits Palestinian spouses from obtaining citizenship, or permanent and temporary residency status in Israel by marriage to an Israeli citizen. This law forces such couples to either leave Israel and live in Palestine where the economy is devastated, or live separately. The law has affected thousands of couples trying to exercise the basic human right of forming a family in Israel. The most recent amendment of the law also prohibits a spouse whose nationality is Lebanese, Syrian, Iranian, or Iraqi, from obtaining residency and citizenship. A person of any other nationality is entitled to Israeli residency status and citizenship if they marry an Israeli.
Please read “Families Divided: An Analysis of Israel's Citizenship and Entry into Israel Law” by Bethany M. Nikfar, that highlights the nature of the law.
(Exerpt of The Citizenship and Entry into Israel Law, unofficial translation)
[T]he Minister of the Interior shall not grant the inhabitant of an area
citizenship on the basis of the Citizenship law, and shall not give him a
license to reside in Israel on the basis of the Entry into Israel Law, and the
Area Commander shall not grant said inhabitant, a permit to stay in
Israel, on the basis of the security legislation in the area.
Check out the law on the Israel's Knesset page.
Don't you see that saying “mix it up” to Palestinians, especially after the most recent attack on Gaza, is offensive? Nobody wants to mix it up with Israelis, our enemy.
Then we ask you back why is it offensive? While we completely denounce the attack and ongoing occupation by the state of Israel, we also refuse to categorize Israelis as one entity and denounce them all together. There are people who are fighting against the occupation, and trying to change the direction of the society from within. The fact that these people are not the majority does not justify us to condemn all Israelis. We also think it is important to connect those who are fighting against injustice on both sides to end the occupation. So, our answer is NO. We separate injustice done by the state from courageous individuals.
Why do you promote impossible inter-cultural marriage? The Palestinian and Israeli cultures are too different from each other.
“Israeli culture” has only existed for 60 years or so. The Jews that lived in Palestine before the Zionist colonies were founded were Arab Jews and their culture was a Jewish variation of Palestinian culture. The founding of the state of Israel and the events stemming from it have contributed to an idea of cultural difference that had to be invented.
Isn't saying “mix it up” emphasizing cultural differences instead of finding similarities in both cultures?
We believe that “mixing up” is good, ALWAYS. We say “mix up!” to Chinese and Americans, Croatians and Serbians, Indians and Pakistanis, Japanese and Chinese, Iranian and American, South Korean and North Korean, or to any internally conflicted groups for that matter. We also say “mix it up!” to any socially and economically divided groups, including rich and poor, and urban and rural populations.
Can you tell me more about alternative marriage in Israel?
In Israel, there is an alternative to marriage, common law marriage, which is equivalent to a civil union in most European countries. Since common law marriage does not involve a religious authority, it is possible for Israeli-Palestinian couples. Partners can make a partnership agreement (heskem zugiut), which is recognized by the state as a binding contract, but not registered as a marriage. If the proof of the relationship between partners is established, the couple is granted equal rights to those of a married couple in many areas, but some benefits are not automatically granted. Please check advantages and disadvantages of common law marriage here. Just keep in mind that the Citizenship and Entry into Israel Law (Temporary Order), is applied here as well. Common law marriage does not assure Palestinians residential permits.
*In Israel, marriage between a Israeli citizen and Palestinian from the OPT does not automatically mean that a couple is able to live together, due to the Citizenship and Entry into Israel Law (Temporary Order), that restricts Palestinians from gaining a residential permit. You need to seek legal advice if you are planning to get married and live together.
Who can I contact to get information about the legal issues concerning marriage between Israelis and Palestinians?
Mix It Up suggests contacting following organizations:
- New Family
- Adlah
- Al Haq
- The Association for Civil Rights in Israel
1-700-700-960 (Free Hotline)
- The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights
Does this website give legal help free of charge?
Sorry, but this website is not entitled to give legal advice. We wish we could. But giving legal advice means that we have to deal with the Citizenship and Entry into Israel Law, which is extremely difficult to handle: 1)because it is a temporal provision, meaning it can be modified every year. This temporary status makes it hard for the international community to intervene despite the law's clear violation of basic human rights. When the International community spotlights the law, the Israeli government can say, “well, we might renew the law next year” 2)because the government enforces the law arbitrarily-it is never clear how it will affect someone. Lawyers told Mix It Up that the Israeli government has no obligation to give a reason why applications for permits go through or are turned down. Right now, all the procedures for the applications are frozen and many families are waiting for the day when they can live together again.
Because we do not want to provide wrong or outdated information for those who are desperately looking for help and accurate information, we recommend that you contact the organizations listed above.
I know one married couple made up of a Palestinian and an Israeli. They would really like to live in Israel, but the Israeli government is harassing them. What do you recommend them to do? Who should they consult?
They should definitely contact human rights organizations either in Israel or OPT that specialize in the “family unification issue” for help. However, unless the Citizenship and Entry into Israel Law is overturned, it remains very, very difficult for an Israeli-Palestinian couple to live in Israel. It's easier said than done, but they can publicize this violation of human rights both internally and internationally, and make a movement for the abolition of this law, with the support of Mix It up and with other couples and families whose rights to forming a family are denied. Our effort to create a movement can reach wider populations by connecting to other marriage related movements in Israel that advocate establishing civil marriage for secular and inter-faith couples, legalizing gay marriage, and demanding equal rights for all types of families.
I am an Israeli. Am I allowed to visit Palestine whenever I want to? If I meet a nice guy on this website and I want to see him in person, will you also help me to meet him?
Unfortunately, visiting the occupied territories is not legal for Israelis; it is considered a felony by the government. But Mix It Up hears that many, many Israelis visit the West Bank regularly Unfortunately, the most efficient way for an Israeli to go to the OPT is to use the networks and infrastructure of the settlements. In this way, they are able to avoid checkpoints. Visiting the Gaza strip is a different story and is almost impossible right now. Another possibility is to help your Palestinian friend to get a permit to visit Israel. To do so you have to talk to "haminhal haezrahi" to understand exactly what documents you need to provide for getting a permit.
Why aren't you talking about the right of return for Palestinians? Dating and marriage issues are relatively minor issues for this conflict.
We believe the issue of right of return is important, but we are trying to frame the issue of peace in the region in a different way. We want to encourage communication between groups who live together but not together-to mix it up. We want to also remind them that the boundaries between groups have to be carefully and continuously constructed-they are not natural. For us, then this issue is not fully separate from the right of return.
