Sunday, January 29, 2006

Who Is a Palestinian?

The Palestinian Authority Law defines a Palestinian citizen as:-

a.) A Palestinian is a person who: a. Was born in Palestine, as defined by the territory covered by the British Mandate, or had the right to the Palestinian citizenship according to the laws in force during that period. b. Was born in the Gaza Strip or in the West Bank, including Jerusalem. c. Irrespective of place of birth, has one or more direct ancestors that meet the requirements of paragraph a) above, d. Is the spouse of a Palestinian who meet the mentioned requirements. e. Has not the Israeli citizenship. e.) The voter need to be entered in the electoral register of the polling district where he or she is to exercise the right to vote. He/she also need to be entered in the final electoral register.


Hmmm.

Is (a) and (b) mutually exlusive or inclusive or what?

So, what exactly were those borders of Palestine "covered by the British Mandate"?

What is now Judea, Samaria and Gaza (YESHA or, [phoo] the "West Bank & Gaza)?

Or does this include Israel too?

Are 4 of my 5 children Palestinians?

1 comment:

Moze said...

But it does say that they must not have Israeli citizenship, although after today, I find my TZ more and more a badge of shame.

I guess my family are certainly Palestinians, as my in-laws were both born in Jerusalem, one under Ottoman rule and one under the British. My husband no long self-identifies as an Israeli; he tells people he's a Palestinian Jew.