- WASHINGTON (AFP) - The United
States on Monday struggled to express its opposition to a new Israeli law
that blocks Palestinians from acquiring Israeli citizenship through marriage,
describing the legislation as discriminatory in all but name.
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- State Department deputy spokesman Philip Reeker said
the law, adopted by parliament on July 31, clearly applied "only to
non-Israeli residents of the West Bank and Gaza, the vast majority of whom
are Palestinian."
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- "In this regard, the new law singles out one group
for different treatment than others," he told reporters.
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- Despite that assessment -- which appears to match the
dictionary definition of "discriminatory" -- Reeker declined
to use the word, noting that an Israeli human rights group was mounting
a court challenge to the legality of the law.
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- "At this point, we feel it's premature to comment
on this legislation and allow the Israeli (legal) process to go forward,"
he said.
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- "We're going to let that process go without trying
to insert ourselves into that Israeli legal thing," he added.
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- Pressed by reporters as to whether Washington saw the
law as discrimination, Reeker said: "(It) would sound like it, but
we're not doing a legal analysis of it because the Israeli system is doing
one."
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- But he refused to use the actual words "discrimination"
or "discriminatory."
-
- Diplomatic language is notoriously nuanced, particularly
in dealing with issues in the Middle East, but in this case, the State
Department went out of its way to avoid controversy.
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- Reeker's immediate boss, department spokesman Richard
Boucher, had said on Friday that US officials were studying the new law
"closely" and would object to it if it was determined to "discriminate"
against any group.
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- "As you know, we certainly oppose any laws that
discriminate against individuals for ethnicity, race, sex and disabilities,"
Boucher said then.
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- "We would be concerned at any new legislation that
could constitute a form of discrimination based on race, sex, disability,
language or social status," he said.
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- The law bars Palestinians from acquiring Israeli nationality
or residency permits through marriage and blocks the reunification of families
split between Israel and the occupied territories.
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- The controversial legislation has ignited a firestorm
of opposition in Israel where the government contends it is necessary for
the security of the Jewish state and Israeli-Arabs and the opposition contend
it is racist.
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