Egypt court rules marrying an Israeli woman 'the act of a spy'

Egyptian upholds verdict that Egyptian husbands of Israeli women will be stripped of their citizenship.

CAIRO // Egyptian men married to Israeli women face being stripped of their citizenship after a landmark ruling on Saturday by the Supreme Administrative Court. The verdict cannot be appealed and it coincided with Egypt's commemoration of the 43rd anniversary of its bitter defeat at the hands of Israel in the Six Days War in 1967.

It also came while thousands across the country protested against the Israeli raid last week on a flotilla carrying aid to the blockaded Gaza Strip, in a bungled operation in which nine pro-Palestinian activists were killed and scores injured. Israeli flags have been burnt at these demonstrations amid demands to expel the Israeli ambassador and close the embassy. "This is not only a victory to me, but to Egypt, Egyptian youth and our national security," the lawyer Nabih el Wahsh, who had filed the case last year but which was appealed by Egypt's foreign and interior ministries, said.

"I'm so proud of this verdict. It's the best thing I've done in my 30-year career, may God reward me for it." The judge Mohammed el Husseiny of the Supreme Administrative Court said the interior ministry must ask the cabinet to take the necessary steps to strip Egyptian men married to Israeli women, and their children, of their citizenship. The court said that each case should be considered separately.

"The court's decision is taking into account Egypt's national security," the judge added. "The case for [Egyptian] men married to Israeli Arab women is different to those married to Israeli women of Jewish origin because [Israeli Arabs] have lived under Israeli occupation," Mr el Husseiny said in his ruling. Some see the ruling as unneccesary and even a violation of the constitution. "This is a political, not legal, ruling," said Gamal Eid, the director of the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information, a regional watchdog based in Cairo. "I'm against peace with Israel and normalisation with Zionists, but I'm also against annulling citizenship as a punishment for marriage choice, and it has no legal justification."

"I am so surprised by the verdict. Egyptian law says citizenship can only be revoked if the citizen is proven to be spying on his country, and this verdict considers marrying an Israeli an act of spying." said Cairo-based attorney and human rights activist Negad el Borai. Other Egyptian liberals support the court's decision. Sahar el Gaara, a secular columnist in several Egyptian dailies, was quick to show her happiness with the verdict, which she saw as a "slap to normalisers".

"Each Egyptian husband of those who married Israelis, whether from 1948 Arabs or Jewish Israelis, is a potential spy, since he stamped his passport with an Israeli visa, even before the marriage, as definitely he didn't go to liberate Palestine. I make no exceptions for any of them," she said. There are no official statistics for marriages between Egyptian men and Israeli women - the reverse is almost unheard of - but Mr al Wahsh has put the number at 30,000, saying only 10 per cent of them are with Israelis of Arab origin.

The decision has sparked outrage by Egyptians married to Israeli women, most of whom moved to Israel after the first Gulf war, when they lost their jobs in Iraq. "The Egyptian citizenship is not a grant from the regime, but its our legal and constitutional right," Shokri el Shazli, the head of the Egyptian expatriates in Israel, said in the Egyptian independent daily Al Masry Al Youm. "No one has the right to strip me from my nationality, and if this happens, there will be an international outcry, so I don't think they will do it," he added.

Egypt has maintained strong diplomatic and economic ties with Israel since signing a peace deal 31 years ago after the two countries fought four wars, but animosity and resentment linger among most Egyptians, who still consider Israel a national enemy. The Israeli Embassy in Cairo told The National that "we are studying the verdict of the Egyptian court". According to Sharia, Muslim men are allowed to marry Christian and Jewish women.

The issue is not new to Egypt. The former grand mufti Nasr Farid Wasel issued a religious edict five years ago saying Muslim Egyptians are not allowed to marry Israeli nationals, "whether Arab, Muslim, or Christian". He did not mention the possibility of a Jewish spouse. While fatwas do not carry any legal weight, they are influential in increasingly conservative Egypt. @Email:[e-mail]