Article74 Magazine

Based on a promise made in summer 1993, when Israel presented its policy paper concerning future procedures of family reunification, the Israeli authority finally issued a new regulation concerning child registration in the occupied West Bank, Military order #1421 (January 17, 1995) provides that a child of Palestinian parents can be registered at the Population Registry if: 
- he/she is below the age of 18; 
- both parents have resident status; 
- one of the parents has resident status and the responsible officer is convinced that  this parent has a permanent domicile in the area; 

This new order replaced military order 297/11a (1969), which permitted child registration only until the age of 16 and required residency status of the mother. The new regulation represents a major improvement for the thousands of West Bank Palestinians married to non-resident wives: their children will no longer remain unregistered and are eligible for ID cards in the future. 

At the same time, however, the new regulation is part and parcel of Israel’s policy of separating the Palestinian diaspora from the Palestinian community in the 1967 occupied lands. By requiring proof of a permanent domicile by the resident spouse, Israel closes the borders to thousands of Palestinian residents living with their non-resident spouse outside the country. Other than in the past, when these resident parents used to come to the West Bank to register every new born child in order to guarantee his/her future residency rights here, this option is now closed to them. Their children will forfeit the right to live in Palestine.