USA-COURT/JERUSALEM-REAX Palestinians hail U.S. court decision on Jerusalem passport law

Record ID: 150688

  • Title: USA-COURT/JERUSALEM-REAX Palestinians hail U.S. court decision on Jerusalem passport law
  • Date: 9th June 2015
  • Summary: JERICHO, WEST BANK (JUNE 9, 2015) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF PALESTINIAN CHIEF NEGOTIATOR, SAEB EREKAT, AT HIS DESK (SOUNDBITE) (English) PALESTINIAN CHIEF NEGOTIATOR, SAEB EREKAT, SAYING: "I hope that the American high court decision would be a message to the Israeli government that East Jerusalem is occupied territories, that the Israeli decision to annex Jerusalem, to build s
  • Embargoed: 24th June 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: West bank
  • City:
  • Country: Palestinian Territories
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA9KY1AYK30I5LSXYHQU4QKIURS
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday (June 8) struck down a law that would let American citizens born in Jerusalem have Israel listed in passports as their country of birth, saying it encroached on the president's exclusive power to recognise foreign governments.
    The 6-3 ruling, a victory for President Barack Obama, comes at a time of strained relations between Israel and the United States, the Jewish state's most important ally.
    The Obama administration had said if the law were enforced it would have caused "irreversible damage" to America's ability to influence the region's peace process and reversed long-standing American policy not to recognise Jerusalem as part of Israel.
    Writing for the court in an important ruling on separation of powers within the U.S. government, Kennedy said the U.S. Congress, which enacted the law in 2002, has a role to play in foreign policy but cannot make decisions on recognising foreign governments. The U.S. Constitution makes that the president's "exclusive power," Kennedy wrote.
    Congress passed the law when President George W. Bush was president. Neither his administration nor Obama's ever enforced it. While Israel calls Jerusalem its capital, few other countries accept that.
    Most, including the United States, maintain embassies in Tel Aviv. The U.S. as a well has a consulate in Jerusalem.
    "Congress cannot command the president to contradict an earlier recognition determination in the issuance of passports," added Kennedy, a conservative who often holds the key vote in close cases.
    Ari and Naomi Zivotofsky, the American parents of now-12-year-old Menachem Zivotofsky, had waged a long court battle to have their son's U.S. passport state he was born in Israel.
    "The Supreme Court in the United States decided that the President of the United States has the authority and all of the authorities to decide in which countries are recognised by the United States and in this case, in our case, what is important is that the United States does not recognise Israel's ownership of Jerusalem, not in the east and not even in the west," father of Menachem, Avi Zivotofsky said.
    The case touched upon what Kennedy called the "delicate subject" of Jerusalem's status. The city, considered holy to Jews, Muslims and Christians, is claimed by both Israelis and Palestinians and has been a point of contention in the Middle East for decades.
    Seeking to remain neutral on the issue of sovereignty over Jerusalem, the State Department allows passports to name the city as the place of birth, with no country name included. The ruling means Menachem Zivotofsky's passport will simply list "Jerusalem" as his birthplace.
    From his office in the West Bank city of Jericho, Palestinian Chief Negotiator, Saeb Erekat, said the decision sent a message to Israel that East Jerusalem was occupied territory.
    "I hope that the American high court decision would be a message to the Israeli government that East Jerusalem is occupied territories, that the Israeli decision to annex Jerusalem, to build settlements, to dictate the results of negotiations before they begin by demolishing homes, expelling Palestinians, fait accomplai policies is not going to lead anywhere. It's total violations of International Law," Erekat said.
    The court was divided. Its four liberals joined Kennedy in the majority. Conservative Clarence Thomas agreed with the outcome but differed over the legal rationale. The other conservatives, John Roberts, Antonin Scalia and Samuel Alito, dissented, saying the law did not involve recognition of a foreign government.
    "Never before has this court accepted a president's direct defiance of an act of Congress in the field of foreign affairs," Chief Justice Roberts wrote in dissent.
    The ruling, Scalia added, "will erode the structure of equal and separated powers that the people established for the protection of their liberty."
    U.S. State Department spokesman Jeff Rathke said the ruling "confirms the long-established authority of the president over the conduct of diplomacy and foreign policy."
    Palestinian residents of Jerusalem supported the decision of the U.S. court.
    "To me, if the country that supports (Israel) is not recognising Jerusalem as an Israeli city, what about us Palestinians, who are living here and don't recognise that Israel even exists," Resident of Jerusalem, Mustafa Jaber said.
    An American tourist in Jerusalem, said he thought Jerusalem was in Israel.
    "To my mind, Jerusalem is in Israel. And therefore, it doesn't make sense to only on a passport say the city, it should say the country as well," said Haim, a tourist from New York.
    "Israel will not even care about this decision. And this decision will not help us (Palestinians) anywhere in the international forums. We always see that America (the United States) is protecting Israel everywhere in the international forums," said Ibrahim Rizeq, another resident of Jerusalem.
    Palestinians want East Jerusalem, captured by Israel in a 1967 war, as capital of the state they aim to establish alongside Israel in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
    An estimated 50,000 American citizens were born in Jerusalem and could, if they requested it, list Israel as their birthplace if the law had been enforced.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2015. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register