Most Palestinian Jerusalemites have one of four legal statuses: Israeli citizen, Israeli permanent resident, Palestinian Authority (PA) ID holder, and no status (statusless) (see Precarious Status). Theoretically, anyone with these four statuses can marry someone with the same status or any of the other statuses. In reality, given the labyrinthine Israeli legal system, the status of one’s spouse determines every aspect of one’s life, especially children. We spoke with Munir Nusseibeh, a human rights lawyer and Jerusalemite. Nusseibeh is an assistant professor at Al-Quds University’s Faculty of Law, the director of the Community Action Center in the Old City of Jerusalem, and the cofounder of Al-Quds Human Rights Clinic. His work at the Community Action Center providing legal aid to Jerusalemites has gained him expertise in the Israeli child registration system, which is often impossible to navigate successfully without professional legal guidance.

We presented Nusseibeh with the most common case scenarios for married couples in Jerusalem who have children and aim to legally register them in Jerusalem: two Jerusalemites with Israeli citizenship, two Israeli permanent residents, two PA ID holders, two statusless Jerusalemites, and mixed-status marriages. Then, we asked Nusseibeh what, if any, aspects of the child’s legal status are acquired automatically, what require input from the parents over the course of the child’s younger years, and how and when the child ends up statusless.

Jerusalem Story: Today, we would like to hear from you about how children born to parents with different legal statuses acquire their own legal status, and how and when these children end up statusless.

Let us begin with the least typical case in Jerusalem: two Jerusalemites who have Israeli citizenship, married to one another. If this couple has a child who’s born in Israel, what happens from the moment of birth until the moment the child acquires legal status? What’s automatic, and what do the parents have to do to acquire the child’s legal status?

Munir Nusseibeh (MN): The child automatically becomes an Israeli citizen, whether the child is born in an area that Israel considers part of its sovereign territory, or abroad. It’s guaranteed at birth if the child is born here. If the child is born abroad, we need to know whether the parent [with the citizenship] was born here or abroad. If the parent carrying Israeli citizenship was born abroad, then there is a risk that the child will not be automatically registered. That’s why it’s better for these parents to have the child in Israel. I don’t know what is the process of becoming a citizen in case the parent with the Israeli citizenship was born abroad and the child was born abroad as well. I haven’t dealt with such a case, and I haven’t deeply inquired about it, but I know that it’s a risky situation.

JS: If the parents are Palestinian Jerusalemites and they acquire Israeli citizenship later on in life, does this change anything for the status of the child?

MN: If the child was born after the Palestinian parents acquired Israeli citizenship, then the child is born a citizen. But if the parents’ citizenship was acquired after the child’s birth, they need to apply for citizenship for the child as well.

JS: Now, what about when two Israeli permanent residents, both Jerusalemites, are married and have a child in Israel? What happens from the moment of birth until the moment the child acquires legal status? What’s automatic? And what do the parents have to do?

MN: If the child is born in an area that Israel considers its sovereign territory, which includes Jerusalem, then the child automatically receives an ID number in the hospital. This number makes the child eligible for permanent residency, and they are treated as a permanent resident upon birth, as long as the permanent residency of both parents is not in question by the Ministry of Interior.

If the residency status of the parents is in question, or there exists a claim that these parents are not living in Jerusalem, then that constitutes an issue. However, the child’s permanent residency is subject to the same conditions as the parents’ permanent residency. This means that the child needs to continue proving his or her “center of life” to keep this residency status valid.

JS: What do you mean by “prove his or her ‘center of life’”?

The civil status of a Palestinian who holds Israeli residency can be revoked if the Israeli Ministry of Interior finds that they do not live in the area it claims as its sovereign territory. Similarly, renewal of documents (most importantly the ID card), or applying for child registration and family unification, all require proving that you live in an area that Israel considers to be within its sovereign territory.

The legal test that a Palestinian has to pass is known as the “center of life” test. This means that one needs to prove that one’s livelihood is taking place in that territory. The test involves submitting documents proving the ownership or rental of a residential property, proof of property tax, electricity and water bills for three years, children’s school registration, certificates and transcript, affidavits, and other documents.

In certain circumstances, the social welfare association, also known as the National Insurance Institute, or the Ministry of Interior, performs home visits to check on Palestinians claiming to live in Jerusalem. The inspectors come early in the morning without an appointment, go around the house taking pictures, open one’s fridge and garbage bins to check for food consumption, and ask detailed questions. If the inspectors report negatively, any application based on the “center of life” criterion will be rejected.

If a Palestinian has another house beyond the official municipal boundaries of Jerusalem in the rest of the West Bank, then the test becomes more complex. Now one has to compare utility bills and demonstrate that they are centered around the Jerusalem house. Many fail this test.

JS: At what age does this child get an ID card? And what’s involved in that?

MN: The child gets their physical ID card at the age of 16, whether they are a citizen or a resident. But what matters here is not the physical ID card—as it is only a certificate testifying that you are a resident—rather the residency itself as a legal status that can be expressed in several ways, such as a birth certificate with an ID number on it. A child who is not recognized as a resident by Israel upon birth doesn’t get a birth certificate from the Ministry of Interior. So, the parents need to go to the Ministry of Interior and request a birth certificate for the child. When the birth certificate is withheld by the Ministry of Interior, the parents are sometimes required to prove their child’s “center of life.”

JS: One other issue that rises is that the birth certificate is the document the child who doesn’t yet have an ID is supposed to carry, correct?

MN: Yes. If you are a six-year-old child [crossing a checkpoint] with your parents, they likely won’t ask for a birth certificate. But once you become a teenager and you want to cross checkpoints, they will ask for evidence about your age, your identity, and your status. And in that case, people carry a birth certificate around when they move. It’s required by law.

JS: So, what happens to the child who never got the birth certificate? In that case, can they move anywhere legally?

JS: By the way, for Israeli Jews who have a child, they don’t have to prove their “center of life” is in an area that Israel considers to be under its sovereignty, correct?

MN: Correct. Any Jewish child born in Israel, according to Israeli law, automatically becomes a citizen even if the parents are noncitizens. However, according to Israeli law, a non-Jewish child born in Israel to noncitizens gets the status of their parents. So, let’s say a couple who is on tourist visas in Israel has a child in Israel, the child automatically gets a tourist visa. If those parents are permanent residents, then the child gets a permanent-residency status. If the parents are on a work visa, the child gets a visa linked to the work visa of their parents. This is the general rule, but it’s different for Jewish children.

JS: And those who are born statusless . . . ?

MN: People who are born statusless are simply out of luck; unable to do any of the things I’ve described.

JS: So let’s move forward to the more complicated situation, where there’s a mixed marriage. The case most relevant for us and in Jerusalem is one where a Jerusalemite with an Israeli permanent-resident ID marries someone from elsewhere in the West Bank with a PA ID. What happens then?

MN: When a Palestinian from Jerusalem—regardless of the gender—is married to and has a child with someone from the West Bank (or for that matter, from anywhere in the world), the child does not get an ID number in the hospital, even if the hospital is within an area Israel considers its sovereign territory. The parents must go to the Ministry of Interior and prove [their] “center of life” in Jerusalem. If they succeed at that, the child will be registered as a permanent resident. If they don’t succeed, the child will not be registered and will continue to be statusless until otherwise happens.

It’s always better to be born in an area that Israel considers part of its territory, since the situation becomes even more complex if the child is born in a Palestinian hospital outside that area. The process of registration will probably be longer. If the child is born outside Palestine—just completely outside historic Palestine—then the parents must apply for family unification for the child. That is a more prolonged process, could take years to work, and could be obstructed. Even when it works, the child undergoes a gradual progression of legal status. First, they get a stay permit, then a temporary residency, and lastly permanent residency. It’s not automatic.

During those years, the family’s life may change. For example, a child goes abroad, or they [i.e., the parents] don’t manage to prove [their] “center of life” according to Israel’s criteria. In the Community Action Center where we give legal aid, we have noticed that Israel has started asking for DNA tests for children. However, from the Israeli sharia court’s point of view, the child is the father’s child. Sharia courts don’t like DNA tests and the idea of arguing that a child is not his or her father’s. You cannot even try to prove the contrary from the sharia point of view. They don’t recognize anything else.

We have a case where a couple was required by the Ministry of Interior to do a DNA test for the children, and it was too expensive for the father. So, we went to the sharia court and obtained a document proving that this child is his father’s, but the Ministry of Interior rejected the document and insisted on a DNA test. Eventually, the child was not registered, and neither were any of his siblings, even though they’re living in Kufr ‘Aqab and they have all the evidence.

The Israeli authorities come up with obstacles while you are trying to register your children. And many, many children don’t pass these obstacles.

There is another important caveat regarding children of Jerusalemite parents who have not been registered as Israeli residents but have lived elsewhere in the West Bank, outside the municipal boundaries of Jerusalem. West Bank residents, in Israeli law, are called “residents of the territories.” They are defined in one of two ways: either as someone who is not an Israeli citizen or resident who is living in the West Bank, or as someone who has a resident status in the West Bank. So, let’s say there is a child of a Jerusalemite and a West Banker who lived for a number of years in Nablus, for example, and decide to move to an area within the Israeli boundaries and register their child as a resident of Jerusalem. Well, in the eyes of Israel, that child would have already been defined as a West Bank resident, regardless of whether they have ever been officially registered in the West Bank. For this child, the registration process in Jerusalem must take place before he or she reaches the age of 14. On the other hand, if this child was born and lived outside the country in Jordan, for example, for several years then decided to register as a resident of Jerusalem, they have until the age of 18 to begin the registration process.

We went to court on a case where a Spanish spouse of a Jerusalemite was defined by Israel as a resident of the West Bank and denied Israeli permanent residency because the couple had lived in Bethlehem for a few months, but the Ministry of Interior stepped down before the court made a decision. They did not want to risk establishing a precedent and determining the specificities of what constitutes a West Bank resident. The Spanish spouse eventually applied for family unification and received their Israeli permanent residency.

JS: Are there data or estimates on how many statusless people live in Jerusalem?

MN: In 2012, the estimated number of statusless people in Jerusalem was 10,000. Later, organizations started requesting the numbers from the Ministry of Interior based on the Freedom of Information Act, but it was about the number of child registration applications submitted to the ministry, and whether they have been approved or not. The organizations did not ask for the number of statusless people, because I don’t think the ministry can count that number. No one can count the number, because how will they count them? Some of them never even applied for registration, such as children born abroad or children whose parents are unable to prove their own “center of life.”

JS: Thank you so much for clarifying these complex issues for us.