Why Jews cannot become citizens of Jordan

Posted on: 2009-07-02 15:13:00
By: Elder of Ziyon

I received an email today from someone asking me about any restrictions I was aware of against Jews having Jordanian citizenship or owning Jordanian land. I responded
My understanding is that Jordan specifically excluded Jews from its citizenship even if they adhered to all the other requirements when they allowed Palestinian Arabs to become citizens in 1950. See page 73 of this.

As far as land ownership is concerned, I don't know of any specific law banning sales to Jews, but it appears that the rules for transferring land in Jordan are sufficiently restrictive against non-Jordanians that effectively no Jew could possibly buy land legally.
He responded back with a source that shed more detail on the land question in Jordan:
Under the direct instructions of King Husayn23, the government of Jordan in 1973 passed the "Law for Preventing the Sale of Immovable Property to the Enemy."24The "enemy" is defined in Article 2 as "any man or judicial body [corporation] of Israeli citizenship living in Israel or acting on its behalf." Under Article 4 of this law any Jordanian citizen who sold land in Jordan or the West Bank to the "enemy" faced the death penalty and forfeiture of all his property to the state:

The sale of Immovable property against the provisions of this law constitutes a crime against state security and well being, punishable by death, and the confiscation of all the culprit's Immovable and moveable possessions.

In addition, Article 3 deemed the sale of land to any alien (i.e., a non-Arab) without permission from the Council of Ministers a security offense punishable by death.

According to PA Attorney General Khalid al-Qidra, Jordan had sentenced 172…

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