June 8, 2015
Melbourne, Australia… The B’nai B’rith Anti-Defamation Commission (ADC) and B’nai B’rith International have expressed their deep disappointment with a U.S Supreme Court decision striking down a law that allowed American citizens born in Jerusalem to list Israel as their place of birth on their passports. The family of Menachem Zivotofsky, who was born in Jerusalem, asked the court to designate Jerusalem, Israel, as their son’s birthplace on his U.S. passport in accordance with the 2002 law passed by Congress. That law, which called on the U.S President to take steps to move the American embassy to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv and to permit Americans born in Jerusalem to have their place of birth listed as Israel, was never implemented because of concerns expressed by the State Department that indicating “Israel” as the birthplace of a U.S. citizen born in Jerusalem would amount to an official U.S. statement about Jerusalem’s status.
B’nai B’rith International was part of a group of Jewish organisations that filed a brief with the Supreme Court asking it to uphold the law.
ADC Chairman, Dr Dvir Abramovich and Dan Mariaschin, Executive Vice President of B’nai B’rith International, issued the following statement:
“once again Israel is treated differently. It seems that every citizen, including American citizens, can rightfully list their country of birth on their passport, except for anyone who was born in Jerusalem. Only Israel is forced, time and again, to deal with the denial by successive U.S governments of its sovereign right to decide where its capital city exists. While this decision is regrettable, it is now time for the U.S government to publicly acknowledge the reality that Jerusalem is the capital city of Israel and to grant Israel the respect it accords other nations whose capitals it recognises. The Jewish people have an ancient and unbreakable bond with the holy city, and we agree with the words of Jerusalem mayor Nir Barkat that “just as Washington is the U.S. capital, London is the capital of Great Britain and Paris the capital of France, so too Jerusalem has been and always will be the capital of Israel, but even more than that the heart and soul of the Jewish people.”
B’nai B’rith International have noted that the court’s ruling effectively brings into question whether Jerusalem is even part of Israel. The ruling could allow for an interpretation that even West Jerusalem, whose status has never been disputed even by the United Nations, could be up for negotiation.
The Anti-Defamation Commission, founded in 1979, is Australia’s leading organization fighting anti-Semitism through educational programs that combat bigotry, prejudice and all forms of hatred.
For further information please contact Dr Dvir Abramovich on (03) 9272 5677
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