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The Law of Return, in its current wording, grants every Jew the right to immigrate to Israel. Moreover, the Law of Return also grants the family members of Jews the right to immigrate to Israel, even if they themselves are not Jewish. As a result, a situation has been created whereby, as of today, there are many citizens in Israel who are related to Jews, yet hold to different religious beliefs. There are also citizens who are devoid of any religion whatsoever. What's more, among mixed families who immigrated into Israel, there are many people who have grown up with a mixed religious worldview. Nonetheless, the uniting factor is that all of the abovementioned are Israeli citizens.Lately, a troubling situation has arisen. Certain faithful citizens of the nation of Israel have been receiving letters whereby they have been summoned into the offices of the Ministry of Interior in order to review their civil status. What was the transgression of those who received these strange letters from the Ministry of Interior? Have they betray the nation? Do they represent a security threat? Have they ever visited an enemy state of Israel? No. Their only transgression was in relation to matters of personal conscience and their religious worldview. More specifically, they belong to minority religious groups in the nation of Israel such as Evangelical Christians, Messianic Jews, and others.The aforementioned letter of inquiry is not an indictment wherein the nation is accusing these people of any offenses. Even for the worst offense, a defendant has the right to receive a proper letter of indictment by which he can properly defend himself and present counter-claims.In this letter of inquiry, there is no mention that the person receiving the letter has the basic right to be represented by a lawyer. Neither is there any warning that this person's citizenship may be revoked. It is simply stated that this person is being summoned before the Ministry of Interior in order "to inquire about his/her status."In many cases, these innocent citizens have appeared before a registration clerk, who then interrogates them about their religious worldviews, and thereafter demands that they sign a document, of which they are not even given a copy. These citizens subsequently find themselves in a helpless situation, whereby the Ministry of Interior will not grant them many basic services, such as the registration of their children in the population registry, the renewal of their passports, the issuing of new identification cards, and in some cases, the Ministry of Interior even goes so far as to revoke their citizenship and deport them from Israel.Despite the fact that the nation of Israel recognizes International Law, which considers the right of citizenship as one of the most important of civil rights, and despite the fact that the right of citizenship grants a person many basic privileges in his relationship before the State (not to mention the right to defend himself against the State’s accusations), and despite the fact that the right of citizenship is essential in order to implement the freedom of transportation—it appears that in the nation of Israel, one can lose his citizenship quite easily. Unfortunately, the abovementioned scenario occurs all too frequently in the democratic nation of Israel – the most "enlightened nation in the Middle East." Additionally, the aforesaid scenario has even happened to citizens who have served in the IDF, having dedicated the best years of their lives to serve their nation. Why? Their religious beliefs differ from those of the majority in the nation of Israel. To read more go to:http://www.israeltoday.co.il/default.aspx?tabid=182&view=item&idx=1658
As in the days of Noah....
