Special privileges granted American citizens in Palestine courts will be canceled beginning April 1, it was announced here today, in accordance with an amendment to the Palestine citizenship law.
The amendment abrogates those articles in the citizenship law which permit Americans accused of an offense punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding fifteen days, to demand that the court consist of a single British judge or contain a majority of British judges. In civil and criminal cases heard by the Supreme Court in its appellate capacity, an American might claim that the court should contain a majority of British judges.
These privileges were extended to American citizens and nationals of a European state. They were not applicable to Palestinians or to persons of Chinese, Egyptian and Turkish citizenship.
The change in the Palestine citizenship law, deleting the paragraphs which offered these privileges to Americans, provides that no person, whatever his nationality, in the future is to have any special privileges before the Palestine courts.
A further change affecting foreigners is made in an amendment to the citizenship law which divides the population of Palestine into Palestinians and foreigners. Hitherto the population was divided into three categories, consisting of Palestinians, foreigners and non-foreigners. The last included persons who were neither Palestinians nor foreigners, such as Egyptians, Iraquians and Turks.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
