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Jerusalem not in Israel: Cdn Courts
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by ryan | July 11, 2007 at 03:10 pm
810 views | 5 Recommendations | 2 comments
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Apparently Canada does not recognize Jerusalem as part of Israel...at least on passports.[q
url="http://www.metimes.com/storyview.php?StoryID=20070711-044150-7714r"] A Canadian court has upheld the country's policy of barring Canadian
passport holders from listing Jerusalem, Israel, as their birthplace.[/q]
As one who has lived and worked in the city which houses the Parliament and Supreme Court of one of the few democracies in the Middle East the Canadian decision seems odd. Especially in light of the fact that only part of Jerusalem is disputed territory. That part being the area annexed by Israel after the 1967 war.
[q
url="http://www.metimes.com/storyview.php?StoryID=20070711-044150-7714r"]The Federal Court of Appeal said that the policy does not violate the Charter of Rights, The Jerusalem Post reported. The decision was a defeat for Eliyahu Veffer, 19, the son of a Toronto rabbi who wanted to amend his passport to identify his birthplace as being in Israel.[/q]
Does Canada, or any country for that matter, have the right to
determine what another sovereign country considers its capital? I don't
think so.
[q
url="http://www.metimes.com/storyview.php?StoryID=20070711-044150-7714r"]Israel has claimed all of Jerusalem since the 1967 war, while Palestinians also claim at least part of the city. On Canadian passports, Jerusalem is listed without an identifying country, the Post said.
"There is no evidence that the absence of a country name beside Jerusalem hinders his ability to travel in any way," the judges said in their opinion.
Veffer has the right to hold any religious views or beliefs on Jerusalem's nationality, the court said in the newspaper article, but a passport is simply a travel document, not a vehicle for expressing those views.[/q]
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Most RecentMost Recommended Comments (2)
at 15:29 on July 11th, 2007
Good catch, Ryan. I wonder if this is going to be big news in the weeks and months to come?
It sounds to me like the judge was just trying to stay neutral, politically...by upholding an existing rule and saying it doesn't "hinder [the] ability to travel" he seems like he's trying to dodge some big bullets (ie: sovereignty, nationalism, etc.). Understandable, given the weightiness, but I wish if he was to make this choice it was actively instead of passively.
at 15:45 on July 11th, 2007
Kaitlin,
I appreciate your comment. The issue of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel has always been contentious. There is only one country that locates its embassy in Jerusalem, that being El Salvador. During the Clinton administration the US said it would move the embassy to Jerusalem but has yet to do that. What I find strange about the Canadian court decision is that it has nothing to do with Jerusalem as the capital but rather as Jerusalem being part of Israel. As far as I know, no one questions that west Jerusalem, the part of the city which Israel conquered in the 1948 war of independence, is part of Israel.