Section: Issues of Family Unity, Identity and Culture

Sub-section: General Family Unity

• Last Updated: 22 December 2009
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Family Unity, Family Unification & Legislation (2009)

• Family unity is severely hampered by existing legislation regarding family unification as this affects Palestinian holders of Jerusalem identification and Palestinian identity holders. In recent years this legislation has become more salient marked by the ongoing Separation Wall and its associated regime.
• Limited, or restricted, access to the ‘closed areas’ in between the Separation Wall and the Green Line, has caused families to separate following the construction of the Wall and the imposition of the permit regime. Family unity has also been affected by movement restrictions and access to Palestinian enclaves in the West Bank.
• In 2002, Israel froze all family reunification proceedings between Israeli citizens and permanent residents (Jerusalem ID card holders) and spouses from the OPT. The freeze denies spouses from the OPT who are married to Israeli citizens or permanent residents the right to acquire citizenship or residency status in Jerusalem.
• Family reunification proceedings under Israeli law prior to freeze in 2002, are lengthy and timely process, and can be rejected on the grounds of security with no recourse or reason for the denial.
• Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem face a real threat of losing their own permanent residency if they move to the West Bank or the Gaza Strip to join their spouses. Israeli citizens are prohibited by the IDF from entering Area A.
• Construction of the wall, in addition to the closure system in place in the West Bank, has had a significant impact on family unity and societal linkages within the OPT has entailed separation of family based on permit regime. (OCHA, November 2007)
• A study in 2009 by Save the Children underlined the difficulties and devastating impact of on family coping mechanisms after trauma and anxiety following house demolitions, and preceding such demolitions. House demolitions and subsequent displacement, including phase preceding house demolitions, lead to significant trauma.
• There are fundamental changes that arise mainly distance from the extended family, tension in the relationship between the nuclear and extended family, disrupted relations between the parent and the child. (Save the Children, April 2009)
  
  

Save the Children, April 2009, p.38, 39

"The majority of house demolitions studied resulted in the displacement of the inhabitants. The subsequent period of migration is determined by the family’s financial resources, the assistance they receive and the possibility of returning to the same land after the house demolition. Generally, migration leads to significant change, mainly distance from the extended family. It also leads to tension in the relationship between the nuclear family and extended family members due to fundamental changes in the lifestyles of both. Maintaining proximity to the original home and the family’s cultivated network of resources around that home is important for a family’s health and ability to cope. Our study shows that certain family mechanisms break down after the trauma of house demolition. Tension accumulates in the relationship between the parent and the child, limiting the ability of this relationship to ease the impact of trauma. Usually the mother plays a major role in alleviating or aggravating her children’s post-traumatic stress symptoms. Children may be unable to overcome the trauma of the house demolition without her help, and she may be preoccupied with her own symptoms. The father plays an indirect role, albeit one not less important. A psychologically healthy father provides a healthier family atmosphere, which helps the mother and the children overcome their crisis. Therefore, the child’s psychological health is closely associated with the parents’ health. These families are not only traumatized at the time of the demolition or afterwards, but also preceding the destruction of their home. Direct threat of demolition, on one hand, and daily cases of demolition in targeted areas, on the other, led participants in the study to panic in anticipation. One family in Rafah even reported feeling a sense of stability and reassurance following the demolition, explaining that daily anticipation of the demolition of their house was far worse than their feelings following the demolition. If a family seeks to reconstruct their demolished house, there is often the risk that the home will be demolished once again."


UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN OCHA), 30 June 2007

"In May 2002, the GOI decided to freeze, for the first time, all family reunification proceedings between Israeli citizens and permanent residents (Jerusalem ID card holders) and their spouses from the oPt. In July 2003, the Citizenship and Entry into Israel (Temporary Order) was enacted. The temporary order was renewed in 2004 and 2005. The temporary order denies spouses from the oPt who are married to Israeli citizens or permanent residents (Jerusalem ID card holders) the right to acquire citizenship or residency status and thus the opportunity to live with their partners in Israel and Jerusalem. In 2004 it was estimated that the law affected between 16,000 and 24,000 families29. In Israel, foreign spouses who are Jewish are automatically granted citizenship under the Law of Return. In other cases citizenship can normally be obtained after a minimum of four years, and temporary residency is routinely granted. In July 2005, when the order was renewed, limited exceptions were granted based on gender and age. The amendments permit Palestinian women over the age of 25 and Palestinian men over the age of 35 to apply for temporary visitors’ permits to be with their Israeli spouses (including both citizens and permanent residents). However, applying for such a permit is administratively complicated, expensive and often requires the services of a lawyer. Amnesty International, citing Israeli human rights groups, noted that prior to the freezing of family reunification proceedings, “the Israeli Ministry of Interior took an average of five years from the submission of an application to grant or deny the application. The applicant spent another five years in various statuses before receiving permanent residency or citizenship”25. Furthermore, permits can be rejected on the grounds of security with no recourse or reason for the denial. The temporary nature of the permits issued means that the spouse is not entitled to apply for social services or work permits26.

On 14 May 2006, the Israeli Supreme Court dismissed a petition filed by the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) and Adalah (The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel) requesting an annulment of this temporary law. According to Human Rights Watch, “the majority of justices did find that the current law violates the constitutional right of Israelis to equality and to family life … However, only a minority of justices felt that the appropriate remedy was to overturn the temporary law” The temporary order expired in January 2007. In late 2006, the Israeli Cabinet advanced legislation extending the temporary order for another two years and in January 2007 the order was debated within the Knesset. It has been reported that draft revisions to the temporary order will establish a committee to deal with requests for exceptions on “humanitarian grounds” given the criticism of the temporary order by the minority judges in the Supreme Court ruling. Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem face a real threat of losing their own permanent residency if they move to the West Bank or the Gaza Strip to join their spouses. Israeli citizens are prohibited by the IDF from entering Area A designated under the Oslo Accords as being under Palestinian Authority security and administrative control) and so have to break Israeli law in order to live with their spouses. If spouses from the oPt stay illegally in Israel with their Israeli spouse and children, they often can’t leave the house for fear of arrest and deportation."


UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN OCHA), November 2007

"Closed area status also results in a severing of social relations. Communities reported that relatives and friends experience difficulties in obtaining ‘visitor’ permits’ to attend weddings, funerals, and religious festivals in the closed areas since the gate and permit regime was established. All 15 communities also reported that proposed marriages have been prevented or married couples separated because of the Barrier and attendant permit regime. "


See  Also

• The Barrier Gate and Permit Regime Four Years on: Humanitarian Impact in the Northern West Bank, UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN OCHA), November 2007
• Visa regime splits Palestinian families, Integrated Regional Information Networks (IRIN), 7 November 2006
• Perpetual Limbo: Israel's Freeze on Unification of Palestinian Families in the Occupied Territories, B'Tselem, 31 July 2006
• Condemning the Upholding of the Ban on Family Unification, al-Haq, 16 May 2006

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