Together We Rise

If the mother decides to marry, her right to custody is automatically and legally forfeited under Article (156) of the Palestinian Personal Status Law. This is a clear form of discrimination and of contradiction between laws, and a disregard for the best interest of sons and daughters.

By contrast, a father does not lose custody when he marries,

even though Chapter Five of the Personal Status Law, on prohibited marriages, Article (25), on permanent prohibition by marriage, includes:

(e) His stepdaughters, that is, the daughters of his wife and the daughters of his wife's children.

For this fourth category, the condition is that the marriage with the wife has been consummated. This means that the wife's daughters become permanently prohibited in marriage to the husband.

So why is custody forfeited when the mother marries?

Under a judicial circular, the age of a mother's custody in the West Bank was raised from 9 years for boys and 11 years for girls to puberty, which was set at 15 years for both sexes. However, this decision is not binding on judges, because it was not accompanied by any constitutional or legal amendment, as the work of the Legislative Council has been suspended.

If girls choose, after reaching the legal age, to remain in their mother's custody, their maintenance is automatically forfeited under the law. Under Article (165) of the Palestinian Personal Status Law:

(a) A guardian who is a prohibited relative (mahram) may take into his care a female who has never married, if she is under forty years of age, and a previously married female if she is not safe on her own, provided that taking her into his care is not intended to scheme against or harm her.

(b) If a female who has been ordered to join the guardian refuses to join him without right, he owes her no maintenance.