US ‘dual citizenship’ creates double standards. It should end

Israel is waging a massive propaganda war not only against the Palestinians but also against the fundamental precepts of what it means to be a true American. Unfortunately, many Americans are so blinded by pro-Israel propaganda, and their politicians so inundated with pro-Israel money, that they cannot, or do not want, to see it.

The foundation of Israel’s propaganda war is that killing Israelis is wrong, but killing of non-Israelis is not. The killing of Israelis by Hamas and the killing of non-Israelis by Israelis all falls on the shoulders of the Palestinians.

One way to do this is to inject “American patriotism” into the Israeli propaganda. And the Israelis do that by asserting that many Israelis killed in the violence are “Americans.”

This assertion is based on the American and Israeli policy of “dual citizenship,” which is a contradiction of each country’s fundamental patriotism and loyalty laws.

But it works.

When a Hezbollah missile struck a Druze school in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, Americans were immediately outraged and accused Palestinians of being “inhuman.” The media blasted the stories across front pages and lead TV broadcasts, showcasing children and women who were killed.

Many of the hostages held by Hamas are dual citizens

Ray Hanania

They quoted Israeli officials at length decrying the inhumanity of the Palestinians and going so far as to describe anyone who criticizes Israel, like the student protesters, as being “antisemitic” and “pro-Hamas.”

In stark contrast, when Israel’s military killed scores of civilians, women, and children who were in a “safe zone” near Rafah, a place where Israel’s military had ordered them to go, most Americans shrugged off the meager news media reporting as a consequence of war.

The more Israel can claim Arabs hate Americans, the easier it is to sell the lies and propaganda to the American public and get the American news media to act as Israel’s cheerleaders.

That is where “dual citizenship” comes in.

Dual citizenship allows a person who has pledged his or her loyalty to America to also pledge their loyalty to a foreign country, such as Israel.

When Israeli-American “dual citizens” enjoy lands and property stolen by Israel from the Palestinians, they are “Israeli.” When these “dual citizens” are killed while serving in Israel’s military, they are described as “American.”

Many of the hostages held by Hamas are dual citizens who are both Israeli and American. But “dual citizenship” allows Israel, the news media, and politicians who receive millions in campaign donations from Israel’s political lobby, to blame it all on Hamas and Palestinians.

What is “dual citizenship?” How can a person claim loyalty to two foreign countries? It is a contradiction of the term loyalty because you cannot be loyal to two countries that have different governments, foreign policies and citizenship laws.

Every country requires a loyalty oath. Those born in the US are automatically citizens and a “loyalty oath” is implicit. Immigrants who seek American citizenship must take an oath.

Immigrants who seek American citizenship must take an oath

Ray Hanania

Israelis who defend this contradictory policy exploit the fact that the US Constitution does not specifically address “dual citizenship” or loyalty because the American founding fathers believed the Constitution is a declaration of loyalty and allegiance.

In 1940, however, the US government realized it had to address this loophole.

At the start of the Second World War, and in the face of the large presence of American citizens who were of German, Italian and Japanese ancestry, American lawmakers feared those “Americans” might act to protect their ancestral homelands because of past loyalty and allegiance to their heritages. The US government feared they would betray America for Germany, Italy or Japan.

Thousands of Japanese, especially because they were not white European like Germans and Italians, were forced to live in internment camps. Few were permitted to serve in the military.

African Americans were also restricted in their service, but for reasons of rampant white racism that plagued the US.

Ironically, “antisemitism” was greatest not in the Middle East, but in Europe and the US itself. When the war ended, the US and Europe did not want Jewish refugees from Nazism to settle in their countries. They supported sending those refugees elsewhere, to the Arab world and to Palestine.

To address these post-war “loyalty” concerns, Congress adopted the Nationality Act in 1940 to prohibit any American from pledging allegiance or taking an oath of loyalty to a foreign country and to deal with immigrants from the Axis countries. The provision of the Nationality Act dealing with loyalty is titled, “Taking Oath of Allegiance to a Foreign State.”

That provision states that any person who is a national of the US, “whether by birth or naturalization,” is prohibited from swearing allegiance to a foreign country. It clearly and unambiguously mandates that an American citizen “shall lose his nationality by: (b) Taking an oath of making an affirmation or other formal declaration of allegiance to a foreign state.”

Section 2 of the Act (March 2, 1907) addresses immigrants who might support one of the foreign Axis countries. stating that if an American citizens “expatriates” themselves (leaves the country for citizenship in another country) shall lose their citizenship. It states “that any American citizen shall be deemed to have expatriated himself ... when he has taken an oath of allegiance to any foreign state.”

To prevent a mass emigration of Germans, Italians and Japanese, and to keep them under surveillance or in internment camps, it further mandated that “no American citizen shall be allowed to expatriate himself when his country is at war.”

The fact is that “dual citizenship,” where a person swears an oath of allegiance to a foreign country, contradicts what it means to be an American.

It is illegal. But, as I noted, Israelis are engaged in much worse illegal activity, such as war crimes, land theft and genocide, so that the illegality of “dual citizenship” is far down the list of American morality.

• Ray Hanania is an award-winning former Chicago City Hall political reporter and columnist. He can be reached on his personal website at www.Hanania.com. X: @RayHanania