RAMALLAH, January 12, 2012 (WAFA) – An Israeli High Court ban on Palestinian family unification with their Israeli spouses that would literally separate families Thursday provoked strong condemnation from human rights groups who described the decision as discriminatory.

By a vote of 6-5, the Israeli High Court upheld on Wednesday what is called Citizenship Law that bans Palestinians married to Israelis from obtaining Israeli citizenship or even living in Israel.

The court has rejected an appeal by Adalah, The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, and other human rights organizations against the citizenship law.

Responding to this decision, Adalah said the court decision would affect thousands of Palestinian families who may have to live abroad to stay together or live apart or live illegally in Israel.

“The Supreme Court approved a law the likes of which do not exist in any democratic state in the world, depriving citizens from maintaining a family life in Israel only on the basis of the ethnicity or national belonging of their spouse,” said Adalah in a statement issued Thursday.

“The ruling proves how much the situation regarding the civil rights of the Arab minority in Israel is declining into a highly dangerous and unprecedented situation,” it said.

Most of the marriages that demand unification are between Israeli Arabs and Palestinians from the West Bank or abroad.

“In March 2009, Adalah submitted three expert opinions from international legal experts in the UK, South Africa and the Open Society Justice Initiative, who argued that the Citizenship Law violated the right to family life, and is discriminatory and unconstitutional,” said the statement.

Until the mid-1990s, Israel had allowed Palestinians from the West Bank and Gaza Strip to obtain unification at the place of residence when married to an Israeli citizen, whether that was Palestinian or Jewish.

However, Israel started delaying for years family unification applications forcing Adalah and other rights organization to appeal to the High Court to overrule the Israeli government ban on granting Palestinians married to Israelis the right to live in Israel.

T.R./M.S.