Israel curbs residency for some Arabs

JERUSALEM - After hours of emotional debate, Israeli lawmakers on Thursday approved a bill banning Palestinians who marry Israeli citizens from living inside Israel with their spouses, and denying them the opportunity to seek Israeli citizenship.

The new law, denounced by critics as racist but defended by the government as a necessary security measure, was a stark illustration of how nearly three years of violence have intruded upon the most intimate aspects of people's lives on both sides of the Israeli-Palestinian divide.

Opponents said they would immediately ask Israel's Supreme Court to overturn the bill, which is initially in effect for one year.

Critics called the measure a black eye for a democracy such as Israel, and described it as far out of proportion to the terror threat posed by Palestinians who obtain Israeli residency permits.

Over the past decade, about 100,000 Palestinians have obtained Israeli residency or citizenship through marriage, the government said. A very small number of Israeli Jews marry Palestinians from the West Bank or Gaza Strip, but the overwhelming majority of such marriages involve Israeli Arabs.

Israeli officials said that 49 Israelis had been killed in 20 attacks that to some extent involved Palestinians who had entered Israel through family unification.

Arab-rights activists said the new measure tarred all Israeli Arabs with the actions of a few dozen who have been convicted of complicity in Palestinian terror attacks.

"This law takes away constitutionally protected rights explicitly on the basis of ethnic or national affiliation," said Hassan Jabareen, the director-general Adalah, a human rights group active on behalf of Israeli Arabs.

Israel does not ban any other nationality from joining spouses in the country and seeking citizenship.

JERUSALEM - Israel said Thursday it would build new housing in a Gaza Strip settlement, angering Palestinians and raising questions about implementation of the U.S.-backed "road map" peace plan.

Nabil Abu Rdeneh, an aide to Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, criticized the plans for the new homes.

In Washington, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said the road map calls for a freeze on settlement activity.

Also Thursday, in the West Bank town of Qalqiliya, Palestinians and Israeli supporters demonstrated at the site of the security barrier Israel is building along the West Bank line. Qalqiliya is on the line and is next to a new north-south highway just inside Israel. To protect the road from snipers, Israel built a concrete barrier.

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