The Supreme Administrative Court has dismissed the Ministry of Interior's appeal against an earlier ruling which seeks to strip Egyptian men married to Israeli women of their nationality, reports Reem Leila A ruling on 5 June by Judge Mohamed El-Husseini, head of the Supreme Administrative Court (SAC), means that Egyptian men married to Israeli women may face losing their Egyptian nationality, as will children from the marriage. The SAC ruling came after the Minister of Interior, Habib El-Adli, appealed an earlier judgement on the grounds that the People's Assembly is the only authority that can decide such matters. In his ruling El-Husseini said the Ministry of Interior should present each case to the cabinet on an individual basis. It will be up to the cabinet to decide whether or not nationality is rescinded. The judgement recommended officials take into consideration whether the spouse is an Israeli-Arab woman -- a 1948 Arab -- or an Israeli-Jew. "The situation of Egyptian men married to Israeli-Arab women is clearly different than that of men married to Israeli-Jewish women. Israeli-Arabs are living under Israeli occupation and are not Jews," said El-Husseini. Lawyer Nabih El-Wahsh, who first filed the case, was jubilant. Stressing that a Jewish woman has the right to pass her nationality to her children, he insists that there is "no way we will have Jewish children whose father is Egyptian in Egyptian territory." "It is a matter of national security. The ruling will also protect young Egyptians." Under the 1976 nationality law, Egyptians married to Israelis who have served in the Israeli army or who embrace a Zionist ideology, can be stripped of their nationality. El-Wahsh believes that only 10 per cent of Egyptian men living in Israel are married to Arab-Israeli women. The rest, he says, are married to Jewish-Israeli women. Egypt's Central Agency for Public Mobilisation and Statistics (CAPMAS) has no accurate records about the number of Egyptian citizens living in Israel or Egyptians married to Israeli women. Reports released by the National Centre for Social and Criminological Research (NCSCR) estimated the total number of Egyptians in Israel in 1998 at 31,000. The estimate released by the Ministry of Social Solidarity in 2001 was 16,000. Egypt's former ambassador to Israel Mohamed Bassiouni, says both figures are exaggerated. He points out that the number of Egyptians travelling to Israel, even as tourists, has never reached 16,000 in one year. An Interior Ministry official who spoke to Al-Ahram Weekly on condition of anonymity agreed with Bassiouni. "Unfortunately, the ministry also does not have an exact figure of Egyptians living in Israel." Nor does he expect Ministry of Interior officials to abide by the court's ruling. There is a peace treaty between the two countries, he says, which means that such a fundamental decision must be approved by the People's Assembly. "We do not want to be stigmatised as peace treaty violators," he added. Human rights activists have denounced the ruling as contravening national and international human rights conventions. Under Egyptian law, says Hafez Abu Seada, head of the Egyptian Organisation for Human Rights (EOHR), Egyptian citizens have the right to acquire any other nationality as long as they first obtain the Ministry of Interior's approval. "Citizens must inform the minister of interior of their intention to apply for a new nationality a year in advance of the application. If they do not wait for the ministry's approval, or fail to inform the ministry in the first place, then they may lose their citizenship," Abu Seada explained. The Ministry of Interior already has the right to rescind nationality in cases involving spying. And although the government does not ban people from travelling to Israel, Egyptian authorities do not make the journey easy. Registering Egyptian/Israeli marriages in Egypt is also difficult, and official records suggest that just five or six such marriages are registered annually. Egypt's official records indicate that not more than five-six cases are being registered each year. Egyptians who have lived in Israel, says Abu Seada, are often blacklisted, making it difficult for them to return and live in Egypt. "And if they do return, they could easily find themselves banned from going back to their families in Israel. The courts are stuffed with cases against the minister of interior filed by Egyptians married to Israelis who want to leave the country and return to their families." Nor, says Abu Seada, would an Egyptian's Israeli wife or children be allowed to enter Egypt. Israeli officials, according to Haaretz website, are studying the court ruling, and have asked for a clear explanation of it from the Egyptian government. In a broadcast Israel's National Radio said the Israeli Foreign Ministry had described the ruling as "dangerous", and claimed that it violates the political and judicial articles of the peace treaty between the two countries.
