'Romeo & Juliet' Saga In West Bank
Reuters
May 17, 2006
RAMALLAH, May 16: Jasmin Avissar and Osama Zatar fell in love, got married and hoped to live happily ever after — but she’s an Israeli Jew and he’s a Palestinian Muslim and now they have nowhere to call home.
The couple’s ‘Romeo and Juliet’ struggle to live together is a rare tale of cross-border love in a land riven by years of violence between Israel and Palestinians.
Ms Avissar, a 25-year-old classical dancer, met Mr Zatar, 26, when they both worked at an isolated animal shelter on the border between Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank.
They wed two years ago, but Israel has not granted them permission to live in the Jewish state. So they live in the West Bank city of Ramallah but on borrowed time – Ms Avissar’s Israeli army-issued permit to cross into the Palestinian-run city is temporary.
It is rare for Jews to marry Arabs either in Israel or the occupied territories, and the few who do tend to keep quiet about a union frowned upon by many Israelis and Palestinians.
“We’re in a Kafka-esque situation. All we want is the right to live together as a married couple,” said Ms Avissar, who crosses an Israeli checkpoint almost daily to work as a waitress in Jerusalem.
“The authorities are constantly trying to keep us apart”, said Mr Zatar, a sculptor who sports a dark ponytail. “We love each other and plan a future together, if we can have one”.
That ‘if’ rings through their lives — their uncertain situation makes talking about buying a house, or having children impossible.
The couple have appealed to Israel’s High Court to force the government to allow them to live together indefinitely, either in Israel or in the Palestinian territories.
Their chances of success are uncertain. On Sunday, Israel’s High Court narrowly upheld a law that denies Israeli residency to many Palestinians who marry Israelis.
In the couple’s separate petition, lawyer Michael Sfard quotes from Shakespeare’s tragic romance, comparing the feud between the Montague and Capulet families to the conflict between the Israelis and Palestinians.
“Being held a foe, he may not have access to breathe such vows as lovers used to swear; And she as much in love, her means much less to meet her new-beloved anywhere”, Sfard writes, quoting from Shakespeare’s play.
Sfard argues that under the United Nations declaration on human rights ‘the appellants have the basic right to live a family life and free choice of spouse’.
An Israeli spokeswoman said that under Israeli law Mr Zatar was ineligible to apply for Israeli residency.—Reuters
May 17, 2006
RAMALLAH, May 16: Jasmin Avissar and Osama Zatar fell in love, got married and hoped to live happily ever after — but she’s an Israeli Jew and he’s a Palestinian Muslim and now they have nowhere to call home.
The couple’s ‘Romeo and Juliet’ struggle to live together is a rare tale of cross-border love in a land riven by years of violence between Israel and Palestinians.
Ms Avissar, a 25-year-old classical dancer, met Mr Zatar, 26, when they both worked at an isolated animal shelter on the border between Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank.
They wed two years ago, but Israel has not granted them permission to live in the Jewish state. So they live in the West Bank city of Ramallah but on borrowed time – Ms Avissar’s Israeli army-issued permit to cross into the Palestinian-run city is temporary.
It is rare for Jews to marry Arabs either in Israel or the occupied territories, and the few who do tend to keep quiet about a union frowned upon by many Israelis and Palestinians.
“We’re in a Kafka-esque situation. All we want is the right to live together as a married couple,” said Ms Avissar, who crosses an Israeli checkpoint almost daily to work as a waitress in Jerusalem.
“The authorities are constantly trying to keep us apart”, said Mr Zatar, a sculptor who sports a dark ponytail. “We love each other and plan a future together, if we can have one”.
That ‘if’ rings through their lives — their uncertain situation makes talking about buying a house, or having children impossible.
The couple have appealed to Israel’s High Court to force the government to allow them to live together indefinitely, either in Israel or in the Palestinian territories.
Their chances of success are uncertain. On Sunday, Israel’s High Court narrowly upheld a law that denies Israeli residency to many Palestinians who marry Israelis.
In the couple’s separate petition, lawyer Michael Sfard quotes from Shakespeare’s tragic romance, comparing the feud between the Montague and Capulet families to the conflict between the Israelis and Palestinians.
“Being held a foe, he may not have access to breathe such vows as lovers used to swear; And she as much in love, her means much less to meet her new-beloved anywhere”, Sfard writes, quoting from Shakespeare’s play.
Sfard argues that under the United Nations declaration on human rights ‘the appellants have the basic right to live a family life and free choice of spouse’.
An Israeli spokeswoman said that under Israeli law Mr Zatar was ineligible to apply for Israeli residency.—Reuters
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