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Tel Aviv Court Rules Against Adoption of Arab Infant by Israeli

June 4, 1958
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An Arab infant, found in the desert by an Israeli patrol during the Sinai operation in 1956, was today placed under the guardianship of an Arab member of Israel’s Parliament by decision of the Tel Aviv District Court.

The court ruled that the child, named Nsinai (Daughter of the Desert), will remain under the guardianship of Pharis Hamdan, farmer-deputy, “until her father comes and demands her.” The child was found wounded beside the body of her dead mother. The court further ruled that she must be raised in the Arab, Islamic tradition.

A member of the patrol which found her, Jerusalem physician Dr. M. Bachar, brought the child to his home, named her Ruth and attempted to adopt her. The court refused to allow the adoption.

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