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by
Mickey Z.
August
2, 2003
As
July turns into August, the thoughts of repressed white men turn to...marriage?
In
Israel (a.k.a. the Holy Land), the Knesset hurriedly passed a law preventing
Palestinians who marry Israelis from obtaining Israeli citizenship or
residency. (FYI: Anyone else who marries an Israeli remains entitled to Israeli
citizenship.) As reported by Justin Huggler of the Guardian, "Israeli
Arabs who marry Palestinians from the West Bank or Gaza Strip will either have
to move to the occupied territories, or live apart from their husband or wife.
Their children will be affected too: from the age of 12 they will be denied
citizenship or residency and forced to move out of Israel."
The
ostensible reason for this racist legislation is this: The Israeli Arab community,
already 20% of the population, is growing faster than the Jewish population...and,
over the past 10 years, more than 100,000 Palestinians have become Israeli
citizens through marriage (mostly to Israeli Arabs).
Of
course, those in favor of the law cloaked their bigotry in the garb of anti-terrorism.
"We are in a state of war - not with the English, or the Americans, or the
Dutch, or the Slovaks - we are at war with our neighbors, the
Palestinians," Gideon Sa'ar, of the Likud Party, said before the vote. "It's
a tragic reality."
"This
law comes to address a security issue," said Gideon Ezra, a cabinet minister.
"Since September 2000 we have seen a significant connection, in terror
attacks, between Arabs from the West Bank and Gaza and Israeli Arabs."
By
"significant," Ezra apparently means the 20 (out of 100,000) Israeli Arabs
who allegedly have been involved in "suicide bombings or other militant
attacks."
Moving
west to that other Holy Land, the Vatican issued a 12-page set of guidelines
(signed by the CEO, I mean, pope) condemning same-sex marriage.
Displaying
its notorious sensitivity, the Vatican declared homosexual couples to
"doing violence," and called on politicians to defend "the common
good of society."
The
ostensible reason for this document (released in 7 languages) is this: "Only
traditional marriage between men and women can fulfill God's plan for the
reproduction of the human race." As far as I know, no mention was made of
gravely immoral priests "doing violence" to the children they abuse
and how that might impact upon "the common good of society." Maybe
next time...
Finally,
crossing the pond to god's country, President (sic) Bush had this to say:
"Marriage is between a man and a woman, and I think we ought to codify
that one way or the other. We've got lawyers looking at the best way to do
that."
Despite
the fact that his predecessor, noted liberal Bill Clinton, signed the Defense
of Marriage in 1996, the ostensible reason for Bush's statement was to bring
about "a definition of marriage."
Afterwards,
White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan helped clarified things: "The
president (sic) doesn't believe in casting stones. He believes we ought to
treat one another with dignity and respect."
The
holy trinity of Bush, the pope, and the Knesset surely have lawyers looking at
the best way to do that, too.
Mickey Z. is the author
of The Murdering of My Years: Artists and Activists Making Ends Meet (www.murderingofmyyears.com) and
an editor at Wide Angle (www.wideangleny.com).
He can be reached at: mzx2@earthlink.net.