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Last update - 00:00 05/10/2008
Palestinian father refused entry into Israel as son enlists in IDF
By Ofra Edelman
Tags: Palestinians 

A., a resident of central Israel, was married for 25 years to M., a Palestinian man. All those years the couple lived in Israel, where they raised their five children. In 2000, as the Al-Aqsa Intifada broke out, M. was granted temporary residency under family reunification regulations.

But the couple's relationship deteriorated, and A. asked the Interior Ministry not to renew M.'s residency. A. said that when she asked the clerk what would happen if she later regretted the decision, she was told she would only have to write a letter to the ministry.

In January 2007, the man was sent from Israel to the Gaza Strip. Since then, one of his children gave birth to his first grandchild - whom he has yet to meet - and his son is preparing to enlist in the Israel Defense Forces. Meanwhile, all of the couple's requests to reunite in Israel have been ignored or rejected.
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A. eventually came to regret her decision not to renew M.'s residency, and earlier this year she filed a request with the Interior Ministry asking that he be allowed to return. She was informed, however, that the family reunification process would have to be initiated anew.

She reapplied this April, requesting that M. be given permanent residency, a status he was entitled to before he returned to the Gaza Strip.

Months passed, and A. received no response from the Interior Ministry. She later learned that the clerk who had handled their case had left his job and not been replaced, leaving all requests for reunification from the Palestinian territories unanswered.

Meanwhile in May, one of M.'s children gave birth to his first grandchild. M. asked the Civil Administration in Gaza for permission to enter Israel temporarily to see the child, and his request was transferred to the liaison office at the Erez border crossing.

After receiving no response to this request, the couple appealed to Tel Aviv District Court. They stated M. had lived in Israel for 25 years, had established himself in Israeli society and had worked as an employee and contractor for construction firms. He had raised children in Israel, speaks perfect Hebrew and considers himself Israeli in every respect, they added.

A. added that had she known the implications of her request to distance him, she would never have filed it.

Furthermore, M. fears for his safety in Gaza. He told the court that on the night of July 31, three masked Hamas members came to his home and began searching his apartment. They asked him whether he had children with a Jewish woman, whether his eldest daughter had served in the Israel Defense Forces, and whether his son was currently preparing to enlist. M. said he told the men his children are Arab, not Jewish, but that they responded, "We know everything about you." He said Hamas operatives visited his apartment four times.

He now tries to minimize his time there, and suspects his neighbor is spying for Hamas, he said.

Following the appeal, the court merely instructed the Interior Ministry to inform A. why it had refused her children's father entry into Israel.

The ministry told the court in response that M. has no legal right to reside in Israel, and that since Hamas took over the Strip last summer, Gaza residents are allowed into Israel only on rare occasions, such as for medical care.

The ministry eventually offered A. a solution: She is welcome to move to the Gaza Strip under the framework of "divided family" regulations, which allow Palestinian-Israeli Arab couples to reunite in the Strip. The decision may have been influenced by the fact that A. converted to Islam before her marriage decades ago, even though she says she still considers herself Jewish.

Meanwhile, A.'s attorneys are still trying to bring M. into Israel, a prospect that now seems more distant than ever.

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  • Court to State: Clarify stance on family reunification ban
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      1.   burocracy 08:14  |  rm 05/10/08
      2.   Left had no objections to send a son to evict his Jewish father 08:58  |  Binyamin Dissen 05/10/08
      3.   Another wonderful example of Israeli justice and objectivity 10:47  |  Haya 05/10/08
      4.   a jew converting to islam is the main issue here 10:48  |  alex 05/10/08
      5.   The Ministry is right 11:36  |  MJ 05/10/08
      6.   What Does It Say About Him That Wife Does Not Want Him Here? 11:49  |  Baruch Gold 05/10/08
      7.   Re: alex 12:14  |  Logically Speaking 05/10/08
      8.   to Haya 13:43  |  Goldenberg 05/10/08
      9.   Serves him right 14:54  |  observer 05/10/08
      10.   Hey Goldenberg!, why dont go back to Khazaria, and leave Palestin 15:02  |  Cerdic 05/10/08
      11.   Regardless of the particulars of this story, please note the 15:08  |  Uri Vis 05/10/08
      12.   Not a real conversion to islam 15:11  |  observer 05/10/08
      13.   Let him back into Israel! 15:31  |  Jane 05/10/08
      14.   #9 observor - representative of `merciful religion` 15:40  |  phew! 05/10/08
      15.   Response to 11 16:02  |  observer 05/10/08
      16.   i was wrong 16:07  |  observer 05/10/08
      17.   Palestine father refused enrty 16:20  |  Abe Simhony 05/10/08
      18.   Oblivious 16:25  |  Richie 05/10/08
      19.   If I was a Brit-jew and wanted to migrate to Israel...? Well 16:54  |  John 05/10/08
      20.   nothing is simple or straight forward get used to that famous 17:04  |  ralph 05/10/08
      21.   a sectarian society 17:07  |  Bob 05/10/08
      22.   can you hear yourself? 18:37  |  Flavia 05/10/08
      23.   What a heartless country 18:37  |  Janice 05/10/08
      24.   chance for redemption 19:12  |  observer 05/10/08
      25.   Miserable ministry & miserable former wife 20:09  |  Ulf 05/10/08
      26.   good luck observer 20:13  |  Flavia 05/10/08
      27.   What a thoughtless Janice? 21:09  |  Joe Sittizen 05/10/08
      28.   Story could happen in any country 21:18  |  Dave Duncan 05/10/08
      29.   un-jewish, morally repulsive occupation policy 22:25  |  Marcos 05/10/08
      30.   Choose One 22:38  |  joe 05/10/08
      31.   what`s so difficult 00:00  |  Bronxite10 06/10/08
      32.   Bronxite10 commendably neutral position 08:26  |  x-ray 06/10/08
      33.   refused entry into Israel 22:32  |  mark 06/10/08
      34.   Palestinian father 18:45  |  Don Hillier 01/10/09
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