RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) - Jasmin Avissar and Osama Zatar fell in
love, got married and hoped to live happily ever after -- but she's an
Israeli Jew and he's a Palestinian Muslim and now they have nowhere to
call home.
The couple's ``Romeo and Juliet'' struggle to live together is a rare
tale of cross-border love in a land riven by years of violence between
Israel and Palestinians.
Avissar, a 25-year-old classical dancer, met Zatar, 26, when they both
worked at an isolated animal shelter on the border between Jerusalem
and the occupied West Bank.
They wed two years ago, but Israel has not granted them permission to
live in the Jewish state. So they live in the West Bank city of
Ramallah but on borrowed time -- Avissar's Israeli army-issued permit
to cross into the Palestinian-run city is temporary.
Israel denies residence permits to virtually all Palestinian men
under-35 under a law, passed during a five-year-old Palestinian revolt,
aimed at tightening security and preventing suicide bombings. The
Israeli military also generally bars Israelis from Palestinian-ruled
territory.
It is rare for Jews to marry Arabs either in Israel or the occupied
territories, and the few who do tend to keep quiet about a union
frowned upon by many Israelis and Palestinians.
``We're in a Kafka-esque situation. All we want is the right to live
together as a married couple,'' said Avissar, who crosses an Israeli
checkpoint almost daily to work as a waitress in Jerusalem.
``The authorities are constantly trying to keep us apart,'' said Zatar,
a sculptor who sports a dark ponytail. ``We love each other and plan a
future together, if we can have one.''
That ``if'' rings through their lives -- their uncertain situation
makes talking about buying a house, or having children impossible.
The couple have appealed to Israel's High Court to force the government
to allow them to live together indefinitely, either in Israel or in the
Palestinian territories.
'BEING HELD A FOE, HE MAY NOT HAVE ACCESS'
Their chances of success are uncertain.
On Sunday, Israel's High Court narrowly upheld a law that denies
Israeli residency to many Palestinians who marry Israelis, rejecting
appeals against a statute that critics say violates human rights and is
racist.
In the couple's separate petition, lawyer Michael Sfard quotes from
Shakespeare's tragic romance, comparing the feud between the Montague
and Capulet families to the conflict between the Israelis and
Palestinians.
``Being held a foe, he may not have access to breathe such vows as
lovers used to swear; And she as much in love, her means much less to
meet her new-beloved anywhere,'' Sfard writes, quoting from
Shakespeare's play.
Sfard argues that under the United Nations declaration on human rights
and international law ``the appellants have the basic right to live a
family life and free choice of spouse.''
Sabine Hadad, a spokeswoman for Israel's Interior Ministry, said that
under Israeli law Zatar was ineligible to apply for Israeli residency.
Few exceptions were made, she added.
The law was drafted after security officials argued that an earlier
policy of granting citizenship or residency to most Palestinians
married to Israelis could help suicide bombers enter Israel.
Most of those affected are Israeli Arabs who tend to be more likely
than Jews to marry Palestinians from the West Bank. Human rights groups
estimate more than 25,000 such families often live apart when Israel
denies residency to one or more members.
``The state has the right not give everyone citizenship, but the way
the system works today is racist and harmful,'' said Sharon Abraham
Weiss, a lawyer for the Israeli Association for Civil Rights.
Israel grants citizenship to anyone who can prove that at least one of
his or her grandparents was Jewish. A fifth of Israeli citizens are
Arabs.
Weiss accused Israel of restricting visas to Palestinians to limit the
number of Arabs who live in the Jewish state, an allegation officials
deny.
DREAMING OF A DIFFERENT WAY
With their lives on hold, Avissar and Zatar have struggled to make a
decent living in Ramallah.
Zatar has been unable to find regular work, a common problem for many
Palestinians in the West Bank's weak economy, even before a U.S.-led
boycott on foreign funds to a Palestinian government led by the
militant Hamas group.
The couple's main income now comes from what Avissar makes serving
tables at the Jerusalem coffee shop.
But the couple still dream of a happily ever after.
Avissar hopes to open a ballet school for Palestinians -- if Israel
ever grants her a long-term permit to stay in the West Bank. Her family
in Israel has accepted her marriage. Some of Zatar's relatives had
accused him of betraying his people by marrying an Israeli; now they
accept her.
``Many people look at me as a stereotype Israeli, as a potential
soldier or settler, just like all Palestinians in the eyes of Israelis
are potential terrorists,'' said Avissar.
``We hope to show everyone there's a different way.''
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/world/international-mideast-couple.html
.
|
