disputed territories control by the Palestinian Authority or move to a third Arab country. If Israel is such a bad place, an "apartheid" society in the view of some Arabs, why insist on residing in this terrible, horrible no good country...??

Well, in Lebanon, Palestinians cannot become citizens. Nor do they have the right to work in most professions, nor can they buy property. In Jordan, there is a law that forbids citizenship to Jews & another law that proscribes the death penalty to sell land to Jews. Saudi Arabia does not even let Jews into the country temporarily. There is no procedure to become a Saudi citizen in any case. As it happens, every country has restrictions on immigration, citizenship, according to various criteria. Every country has a right to determine who & under what circumstances citizenship is granted. This is an essential element of sovereignty. Our Arab MK's are lucky we are such liberal idiots or they would be thrown out of the country.

...under the guise of ‘security’. Can anyone name an Arab/Muslim country that has passed a law preventing Jews or Israelis from marrying Arabs? Shame on Israel.

Where is United States, and the European Union promised us all the time for peace, while "Israel" by its racist laws building apartheid on the ground. We're free to love and marry who we choose, it's none of your business! demographic reason is racist reason.

I can tell you from experience since I lived in an Arab country until recently. It is absolutely illegal for a Muslim woman to marry a Jewish man. It is allowed for a Jewish woman to marry a Muslim man, even if she doesn't convert. But, the children are by law Muslim. If a Muslim woman marries a Muslim man who is a citizen of another country, she remains a citizen but her husband cannot become a citizen although he may be granted residency. The children, however, will not be citizens, only residents. If a Muslim woman marries a non-Muslim from another country, the marriage will not be recognized & children will not be eligible for citizenship. I personally know of many cases but one stands out. A friend of my mother, a Lebanese Christian lady, born in our country of Lebanese father & Moroccan mother, was never allowed to become anything except a resident. She could not obtain travel documents & had to renew her residence permit every year. There is no process of naturalization for anyone immigrating to the country nor for any of their descendants, ever. So, what the hell are you talking about?

Matty asks "Can anyone name an Arab/Muslim country that has passed a law preventing Jews or Israelis from marrying Arabs?" Well, Egypt for one. They're moving now to strip Egyptian citizenship from anyone marrying an Israeli. Arafat used to talk about the Palestinian "womb" as demographic weapon, to overwhelm the Jews in sheer numbers. Family unification is another means to that same end by accelerating the growth of the Arab minority within Israel.

the PA is a hostile entity if not a full blown enemy state, NO country allows foreigners from enemy or hostile states to freely settle within their border- let alone grant them citizenship!! This law is right and long overdo! There is not reason for allowing enemy nationals into the country. If a citizen wants to live with a person from an enemy state, they can go live in that state or a neutral country, so the "humanitarian" argument falls flat on its face!

Make this citizenship law permanent with a few modernizations. An Israeli can marry a palestinian or any other foreigner and they can live in Israel with a trmpory residency visa and if they stay married for 10 years+ then citizenship can be applied for. If the couple split up the amount of time they were married should take into account when deciding the future of the foreigner. If its only 1-2 years and there is reason to suspect this was a marriage of convenience so the palestinian can gain residency or citizenship then instant deportation no questions asked. If we are talking 5-6 years of marriage and children then residency status may be granted although no chances of citizenship and if they break the laws they will be deported. Just swearing an oath where they say I will be loyal to a jewish & democratic state its words. Anybody who wants citizenship will be willing to say words they don't believe if the prize is full citizenship. My sister married an American she has been living in the US 4 years ago now she still does not have full American citizenship. Israel is famous worldwide for being a soft touch which is why we get so many illegals. In any other country just marrying a citizen would not be good enough to grant instant citizenship in Israel though if your arab at least one of your wedding presents is an Israeli passport for the palestinian. Stop renewing this law every 6 months put it into statute that this will be standard policy. If your not jewish you should have no rights to be living in Israel no matter who you marry.

at least we allow muslim women to wear a burka, while your country and other European nations deny it - or about to... so before you try to lecture others about their behavior open your window and look out.. amazing that people like you have the nerves to even comment here- remind me what is it exactly that your country is doing in iraq and afganistan? at least we have a different reason to what we do and decide then money

...Syria & Jordan? Jordan has given a lot of Palestinians citizenship since 1948~1967, it seems they are the majority in the country, not the original inhabitants, the Bedouin. About Syria I only know it took a lot of Iraqi refugees, like Jordan. In my opinion citizenship shouldn't be automatic if you want to bring in a bride or groom from outside the country. In the NL the candidate has to pass a 'citizenship test'(on language, culture, political system, history) in the country of origin to have the application processed.

dont forget that the only reason that you enjoy the freedom of talkbacking here is because we give the ability to do it - as a democratic state.. you can be sure that the rest of your "brothers and sisters" in the muslim/arab world dont enjoy this, and most of them dont even have an internet connection.. and when you say that you are from "palestine" - where is it exactly? you never had, and you never will have a country - count on it... the real palestiniens came here from greece and cyprus while the romens where here - which was before the islam was even invented and they had nothing to do also with you arabs. the only reason you are in our country is because the other arab countries use you against Israel and your so called "suffering" is a way for them to condemn us... i heard a new shopping mall was opened yesterday in gaza - are you writing from there on a cup of coffee? or is it from your "bombed house"? because if it is - your lucky your internet infer structure is still working!

Jehudah, how many times do we have to tell you that they are natives of the land and hence are not leaving anywhere for you to understand? What part of they are natives and you are immigrants that you don't get? They will not move anywhere away from where they were born, neither would they want to live in another Arab country, it's actually the other way around, if YOU don't like it, go back to where you came from, very simple! Terry, there is no comparison between what you mentioned about arab countries allowing palestinians in, buying property or receiving citizenship, and the fact that palestinians are looking for equality and rights in their OWN land...please read the above again! They don't care if Saudi Arabia or whoever has no laws regarding citizenship, they are fighting for their rights in their country, please write this down a hundred times so that you don't forget it...they are not lucky that you are liberals, simply because you are not! It's you who are lucky that you are able, until now, to deprive them of their basic simple rights. You were right about being idiots though!

it seems that there is a double standard at play in the middle east. arabs find it is ok to deny citizenship or the "right of return" to jews they forced out of their countries.. jews can not live in or buy property in many of their countries . if it is racist for Israel to say who may or may not live in their country what is the name for the laws in other middle east countries who find it ok to exclude the Jew from there country?? RACIST is a word that is being used by so many people and nations now that is is fast becoming just another WORD in a long list of words that have lost their meaning! i BLESS Israel!

Israel between the 19th century and Israel's establishment. The economic boom bought about by the British and the Jews toward the end of the Ottoman Empire and then the state of Israel itself have been a magnet for Arabs from Syria, Iraq Lebanon and Egypt as well as the nomadic Bedouines of the Hijaz and the Sinai for Arabs to settle in the country. Don't believe me, read instead books of travelers of the country in the 18th and 19th century, including that of Mark Twain to appreciate the desolation of the country before the Jews came. The statistics conducted by the British support this as well. The native people, the native civilization of the Land is actually the Jewish civilization, which is exactly the one the Muslim-Arabs hope to erase, to wipe off the face of earth. They even deny Jerusalem was Jewish and the Temple Mount has never been the place of the Jewish Temple.

You are mistaken. The Arabs are not natives, they are not the indigenous inhabitants. The majority of Arabs are descendant of immigrants from other Arab countries, they began coming to the area in the 1880's because of the economic opportunities created by Jewish immigrants at that time. Actually, many Arabs came quite recently, in the 1920's, also for economic reasons. This is not to say that some Arabs are descended of the Muslim invaders who conquered the area somewhere around 650 A.D. - from the Byzantine Empire. Today's Christian Arabs have a better claim than the Arab invaders. Nonetheless, there has been a continuous Jewish presence in the area since 1200 B.C. ''Palestinian'' is a manufactured nationality of recent origin. Palestinian is not even an Arabic word - who ever heard of a nationality that has no native word in their own language for their nationality? You are completely ignorant of history, suggest you do some research before you mindlessly repeat propaganda.

I don't understand your problem dear.... is the law forbidding you to love and marry who you choose????? but if you live in Israel, think twice, who you are marrying.... because we have the right, as every country in this world, to allow or not to a stranger to live in our country.... and once again: we have no right to live in Gaza and West Bank..... what a racist law you have....

Salma You certainly are allowed to marry whoever you like nobody is denying you that. What your not entitled to is the right to live or be granted citizenship of Israel thats up to Israeli immigration laws. All countries have different immigration laws and if your looking for examples of racism look no further than the arab world. In Saudi Arabia jews are not allowed to emigrate. In Jordan its illegal for jews to buy property and even though we have a so called peace treaty jews are not allowed to enter the country with jewish holy items. If a jew wants to enter Jordan he can't bring a prayer book or anything like that. Every single arab state other than Jordan bans giving citizenship to palestinians. They may have been born & bred there and have jobs but they are not entitled to citizenship. In Syria & Lebanon there are hundreds of thousands of palestinians in camps refused citizenship and banned from doing everything from engineering - barbering unless its inside the camp. Israels immigration policies might not be the same as secular western countries but in the Middle East its the most liberal and easy going when it comes to immigration.

Any a law this so that banning family reunification for Palestinian spouses while calling the world's Jews to settle of land they have not any thing in,this is a retroactive, ruthless law and not humanitarian

In this article we're talking about Israel not the other countries and one more thing other countries don't pretend to be democracies and western societies.

What ebaut those children born in Israel to non-jewish mothers?

Matty Nobody is saying that Israelis are not allowed to marry palestinians. Your welcome to marry but marrying a non Israeli doesn't entitle then to permanent residency or citizenship. If the palestinian does not get permission to live in Israel then the Israeli can go live with them outside Israel but nobody says you can't marry. Your own country doesn't grant citizenship as standard because you marry an American. My sister married an American and they have been living in the US for the past 4 years now and she still does not have American citizenship.

propaganda tube..... but what the world is buying from Al Jazeera, Hamas and Hizballah, the Israelis are not buying from Salma... her "arguments" baseless, full of hate and stupidity... but sometimes it's funny to see, how she shoots in her own leg....

you are not a citizen,' but you can't tell someone 'You are a citizen even you can't to bring your partner in your home,'It's retroactive and ruthless'

Some very prominent Arab names in the country are Masri, Halabi Yemeni, etc. These Arab names tell the story: The Masri clan is from Misr, Egypt in English. The Halabi clan is from Haleb in Syria. Yemeni, is from Yemen, in the south. So much for Arab nativity in the Land of Israel. And as for Jews, review the names of places around the country and you will find that ancient Jewish names have been changed a bit to be pronounced in Arabic very similarly to the original Jewish name, names of places that are mentioned in the Bible, in the Talmud and in historic accounts, with archaeological Jewish artifacts to support the Jewish claim. So, who is native?

Thank you for your response, i appreciate it...Please for the sake of arguement don't assume things, just say "I THINK" before any assumed statement, it'll make you look better...For your info, my father and his parents were forced out of Palestine in 1948, we can trace our family tree back to 1850, and that's what's on record. Neither you nor anyone can change this fact! We are not discussing the issue of what the origins of the word Palestine came from, this has no relation what so ever to the subject of discussion... What ever the reason that made the arabs go to Palestine whether in the 7th century or the 19th century, they actually did live there with continous presence. They have an identity, culture and yes believe it or not history! Never did i personally deny that jews maintained presence there too, nor did i ever say that jews weren't there since a gazillion yrs ago, this is not the issue...the issue here is that the arabs were born there, lived there for centuries and now people like you are asking them to leave? This is abhorrent, rediculous and disgusting to say the least! Realistically you are immigrants, you wanna live there in peace, fine, i am not against this in any way, however if you don't like them living amongst you, those who came last leave first! Propaganda is what you have been fed for ages, propaganda is claiming that only jews have the right for the land! Just because people like you believe that their ancestors came from wherever doesn't give you the right to steal what is theirs! There is no way Palestinians will accept to leave their land, their assets, there culture and leave it for you, they will NEVER do that, once you get that into your mind then you'll be able to live in peace with them.

you live in USA, which does not pretend, but states, that is democratic, and even in you democratic country the spouse does not receive citizenship automatically, but have to wait for several years.... in Switzerland you have to wait 20 years for citizenship,,, there is no country in this world, which is obliged to give citizenship to everybody...

Your choice of countries (Lebanon) is interesting as Lebanon IS a democracy.

Why is this law temporary? So it cant get disputed in the Supreme Court of Israel? Of course as for a democratic state like Israel is meant to be, such a law would be called "against the constitution". But here is the thing : this is not about rights of men and women wanting to build a family and a future neither in Lebanon nor in Jordan nor in Iran or Syria. This is a law made by a parliament who calls himself democratic, as for example France Germany the UK Italy Spain Netherlands Sweden Denmark or the U.S.A. THIS is what this law is about not about Jemen or the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia or Somalia. Right?

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/babylonbeyond/2010/06/egypt-men-married-to-israelis-to-lose-egyptian-nationalities.html ...."The Egyptian Supreme Court has affirmed an earlier verdict to revoke the citizenship of Egyptian men married to Israeli women. In his Saturday ruling, Supreme Court judge Mohamed Husseini said the government should begin enforcing the verdict, which includes stripping the citizenship of children born from mixed marriages. Over the last 20 years, thousands of Egyptians have flooded Israel searching for work and better living conditions. Reports indicate that about 30,000 Egyptian men are married to Israeli women"...... (June 6, 2010 ) ---and this is the most recently case. Have you got anything else against the state of Israel? Sure, you will always have something against Israel, because it is a special nation with very, very long roots!