Egyptians who support Israel's right to exist can lose their citizenship

Egypt's Ahram Online reports:

Egypt's Prime Minister Sherif Ismail issued a decree on Sunday revoking the nationality of three Egyptian citizens for joining the military service of foreign country without a permit from the Minister of Defense.

According to the decree, Mohamed Fayez Hussein Hassan Fogo, Ragab Ismail Ragab Bazazou and Walid Salman Hamdan Abdel Rahman El-Talbany were stripped of their Egyptian nationality for joining a foreign army and for working in a foreign security apparatus without a permit from Egypt's defence ministry that is necessary according to constitution.

The prime minister also issued a decree to cancel the Egyptian nationality of Emad Sami Hassenein for becoming an Israeli citizen without a permit from the interior ministry that is likewise required according to the Egyptian constitution.

I cannot find anything yet on the case of Hassanein, and how he could have become an Israeli citizen. Chances are high that he married an Israeli.

But an article in AllAfrica elaborates on the law on stripping Egyptians of citizenship. According to article 16 of law no. 26/1975, the valid reasons for such a move are:

• People who acquire a foreign nationality without obtaining permission from the Interior Ministry
• Joining the military service of a foreign country
• Living abroad while convicted with crimes related to harming state security
• Accepting a position in a foreign government or a foreign international body despite the issuance of a justified order by the Egyptian Cabinet to withdraw from that position
• Joining a "foreign body whose purposes include working for the undermining of the social or economic order of the State, by the use of force or any other illegal means"
• Working "for a foreign state or government which is in a state of war with Egypt, or with whom diplomatic relations have been severed,....[which] would constitute harm to Egypt's military, diplomatic or economic situation, or would adversely affect any other national interest."
• People who at any time has been "qualified as Zionist."

In other words, when Egyptians accuse citizens of being Zionist, they aren't just insulting them - they are putting their citizenship at risk.

This could help explain why Egypt's dwindling Jewish community has been careful never to say anything remotely pro-Israel - it could get them deported.

But this law also helps explain why Egypt has one of the highest rates of antisemitism in the world.

Wikipedia's entry on Egyptian nationality laws pointedly ignores the Zionism part.

Libya's nationality law had an almost identical provision until 2010, when it was changed. But over 35 years after Camp David, Egypt has not modified this law that is clearly against human rights principles of freedom of expression and belief.

I haven't seen any "human rights' group say anything negative about this, though.

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