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This Valentine’s Day, Adalah is launching a new website for its exhibition, Families Interrupted. The exhibition uses a series of anonymous portraits to capture the reality of the many thousands of Palestinian families who are forced to live in the shadows by the Israeli Citizenship Law’s ban on family unification.
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“I’ve risked my life to get to see my family in the West Bank. I’ve jumped more than ten meters off the Separation Wall and they shot at me twice. I’ve also gone through with the people smugglers. There are people who will buy and sell you at the wall.†Hisham, Families Interrupted
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What is the ‘ban on family unification’?
In 2003, the Knesset amended the Citizenship and Entry into Israel Law to prevent Palestinians from the OPT who marry citizens of Israel from obtaining legal status in Israel. It stops Palestinian citizens of Israel from realizing their right to family life in Israel. The law was enacted as a ‘temporary order’, but it has been in effect for over ten years. It is currently valid until 30 April 2014, when the Knesset will vote on it again.
The law aims to maintain a Jewish demographic majority and is totally disproportionate to the security reasons used by Israel to justify it. It is a discriminatory, racist law that has no parallel in any democratic state.
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“The fear I have of going outside and moving around has become psychologically and socially overwhelming. I live cut off from the outside world.†Kifah, Families Interrupted
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Learn more
Adalah and Physicians for Human Rights-Israel explain more about how the ban on family unification intrudes on every aspect of the lives of affected Palestinians, violating their rights to privacy, dignity, personal autonomy and equality.
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