birthright

I was born in Prague, the capital of Czechoslovakia, in 1953. I immigrated to Canada in 1980 after a lengthy sojourn through other territories. I obtained my Canadian citizenship in 1985 and for the past twenty years have proudly travelled with my Canadian passport. Naturally, the place of my birth in the passport is designated as "Prague, CZE". Czechoslovakia no longer exists and I believe the official designation of the Czech Republic is CR. Thus people born after 1993 probably have "Prague, CR" in their passports. I may be wrong but what is relevant here is that both the city AND the country are listed.

There was an item in the paper today about a young Israeli man who immigrated to Canada with his parents a few years ago. He has obtained his Canadian citizenship but his place of birth is listed as "Jerusalem" - no country mentioned. Had he been born in Haifa or Tel Aviv, the Canadian authorities, in their profound wisdom would have allowed the letters "ISR" after the name of the city. But they will not confer this honour on "Jerusalem". Why? Because "the status of the city is disputed"

These officials, whoever they are and whatever undisputed places they come from - Winnipeg, Trois Rivieres or Lethbridge - are full of it. The western part of Jerusalem has been the official capital of Israel since the country's inception in 1948. The eastern part was officially annexed by Israel a few years after it was won from Jordan. (some people say "liberated" - my own prefered term is "won" because it is territory Israel won fair and square in an unprovoked war) It is this part, Eastern Jerusalem, that is "in dispute" by the international community. If the boy in question is Jewish (the fact was not mentioned in the newspaper article) there is a 99% likelihood he was born in West Jerusalem.

The boy wants to travel the world recognized as an Israeli. To an Israeli, Jerusalem is not only as much part of Israel as Lethbridge is a part of Canada - it is FAR, FAR more so. Jerusalem was Jewish thousands of years before Lethbridge was on the map - when native tribes roamed the prairies. I don't think that anyone would omit the letters "CDN" after "Lethbridge" in any Canadian passport. To deny the birthright of an individual by omitting the country of his birth on his travel document is a travesty and outright discrimination.