Citizenship and its Erosion: Transfer of Populated Territory and Oath of Allegiance in the Prism of Israeli Constitutional Law
Law and Ethics of Human Rights, Vol. 2, No. 2, pp. 2-32, 2008
32 Pages Posted: 17 Feb 2011
Date Written: 2008
Abstract
This Article discusses two issues of majority-minority relations in deeply divided societies. The first is the legitimacy of the transfer of a homeland minority (or a part of it) - along with the territory it inhabits - to a neighboring kin-state against the will of the minority or most of its members. The second is the constitutional validity of legislation that renders citizenship - or the right to vote - contingent upon an oath of allegiance to the state or to its fundamental attributes. These two interrelated steps - advanced by a central partner in the current government coalition in Israel - are aimed at the Arab-Palestinian minority. This Article's main focus is the examination of Israeli constitutional law safeguards that may prevent the implementation of these initiatives which I find to be very dangerous.
Keywords: majority-minority relations, transfer of a homeland minority, constitutionality, constitutional law safeguards
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