03/03/2005
stampa
invia
“I can’t give them Jordanian citizenship because the law doesn’t allow it,” Laila
explains, “They’re considered Palestinian, but we live and work in Jordan; our
whole life is here. Right now the situation is completely blocked: the children
cannot have a Jordanian passport. They can get is a temporary work permit, that’s
all. They aren’t allowed to have a normal life. They can’t attend a public school
or university, they have no property rights”. The situation is blocked due to
gender discrimination in Jordan. If Ahmed, Laila’s husband, had a Jordanian passport,
there would be no problem. “Jordanian law says that in mixed marriages, Jordanian
nationality is granted only if the father is Jordanian.” Laila says, “The wife
can receive citizenship after three years of marriage, with the consent of the
husband. That would resolve the problem, because then the children also receive
citizenship and can be listed on the mother’s passport.” The gender discrimination
is obvious: only a man can grant citizenship to his own children.
A law proposed in November, 2004, promised to resolve the dilemma of families
like Laila’s, when the government of Jordan decreed a sort of humanitarian nationality
for children of Palestinian fathers and Jordanian mothers. But the law was blocked
again, even against the opposition of Queen Rania, the wife of King Abdallah II,
who has been fighting this form of discrimination. “Her Majesty Queen Rania fights
for the rights of women in general and for my case in particular, “ says Laila,
full of trust. “At the Summit Conference for Arab Women, the queen announced that
Jordanian women would soon have the right to assure Jordanian citizenship for
their children. But two years have gone by . . . and the law is still waiting
in Parliament. Three different forms of the law have been proposed: One of them
allows for Jordanian women married to foreigners to guarantee Jordanian citizenship
to their offspring, but only if the husband is not Palestinian. It’s all political.
I hope it doesn’t end up that way.” The danger is that one prejudice could be
supplanted by another. After waiting for years, the new law may cancel discrimination
against women by instituting discrimination against Palestinians. As the political
question wends its way through Parliament, Laila’s children are growing up, and
as they wait for their legal papers, they enjoy the love of both parents, who
love each other even though they have different passports.
stampainvia
Laila is Jordanian; she married a Palestinian. Their two children have no citizenship
“Sometimes when I think about it, it feels like a nightmare. But it’s my real
life. I am a Jordanian woman who fell in love with a Palestinian man and married
him. We have two beautiful babies, a boy and a girl. But they have no nationality;
it’s as though they didn’t exist.” Laila’s voice grows quieter only when she talks
about her children, but you can see how it weighs on her heart. In Jordan, if
only the mother is Jordanian, the offpsring of a couple are not granted citizenship.
“I can’t give them Jordanian citizenship because the law doesn’t allow it,” Laila
explains, “They’re considered Palestinian, but we live and work in Jordan; our
whole life is here. Right now the situation is completely blocked: the children
cannot have a Jordanian passport. They can get is a temporary work permit, that’s
all. They aren’t allowed to have a normal life. They can’t attend a public school
or university, they have no property rights”. The situation is blocked due to
gender discrimination in Jordan. If Ahmed, Laila’s husband, had a Jordanian passport,
there would be no problem. “Jordanian law says that in mixed marriages, Jordanian
nationality is granted only if the father is Jordanian.” Laila says, “The wife
can receive citizenship after three years of marriage, with the consent of the
husband. That would resolve the problem, because then the children also receive
citizenship and can be listed on the mother’s passport.” The gender discrimination
is obvious: only a man can grant citizenship to his own children.A law proposed in November, 2004, promised to resolve the dilemma of families
like Laila’s, when the government of Jordan decreed a sort of humanitarian nationality
for children of Palestinian fathers and Jordanian mothers. But the law was blocked
again, even against the opposition of Queen Rania, the wife of King Abdallah II,
who has been fighting this form of discrimination. “Her Majesty Queen Rania fights
for the rights of women in general and for my case in particular, “ says Laila,
full of trust. “At the Summit Conference for Arab Women, the queen announced that
Jordanian women would soon have the right to assure Jordanian citizenship for
their children. But two years have gone by . . . and the law is still waiting
in Parliament. Three different forms of the law have been proposed: One of them
allows for Jordanian women married to foreigners to guarantee Jordanian citizenship
to their offspring, but only if the husband is not Palestinian. It’s all political.
I hope it doesn’t end up that way.” The danger is that one prejudice could be
supplanted by another. After waiting for years, the new law may cancel discrimination
against women by instituting discrimination against Palestinians. As the political
question wends its way through Parliament, Laila’s children are growing up, and
as they wait for their legal papers, they enjoy the love of both parents, who
love each other even though they have different passports.Christian Elia
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