23
Born in Jerusalem
Of possible tangential value to embassies and consulates is the United States District Court for the District of Columbia decision of September 19, 2007 in the matter Menachem Binyamin Zivitofsky et al. v. The Secretary of State, docket number 03-1921.
The plaintiff seeks to enforce a federal law permitting Israel to be listed in his passport as his place of birth under authority of §214(d) of the Foreign Relations Authorization Act, Fiscal Year 2003, Pub. L. No. 107-228, 116 Stat. 1350, 1365-66 (2002).
The court dismissed the complaint as presenting a non-justiciable political question because President Bush expressed an opinion which entered into the defendant's Foreign Affairs Manual, 6 FAM §1393.1(b), see Statement by President George W. Bush Upon Signing H.R. 1646, 2002 USCCAN 931, 932 (Sept. 30, 2002).
Under the statement, the congressional mandate operates as an impermissible interference in presidential authority to conduct the foreign affairs of the United States, and the executive refuses to list Israel in passports of American citizens born in Jerusalem. The history and significance of the ruling are explained in ZOA Dismayed By U.S. Court Ruling. -- Clemens Kochinke, Berliner, Corcoran & Rowe, LLP, Washington.
Sat, / Embassy Law Link