Tania de Ildefonso Ocampos is a Spanish journalist based in Tel Aviv who specialises in the Arab-Israeli conflict, along with Israeli history and politics.
Published: 6th May 2013
On April 29 [2013], the non-profit organisation Hiddush - Freedom of Religion for Israel, which advocates religious freedom and equality in Israel, released a comparative online world map that examines the current status of freedom of marriage in 194 countries. The study, which is the first-of-its-kind, revealed that "although Israel is a democratic and liberal state, it ranks among some of the most fundamentalist countries in the Islamic world on this issue".
The countries examined are graded on a scale of 0-2, based on the degree to which freedom of marriage is guaranteed to the given country's citizens. The study shows that only in 93 (48 percent) of the countries in question there is complete or almost complete freedom of marriage (grade 2). There are partial restrictions on freedom of marriage (grade 1) in 56 (29 percent) of the countries and in 45 (23 percent) - including Israel - there are severe restrictions on freedom of marriage (grade 0). From those 45 countries where there are severe restrictions on freedom of marriage, 33 are Islamic countries.
According to the study, "Israel is the only Western democracy in the world that received the lowest grade. Its restrictions on marriage places Israel, in this regard, alongside its neighbouring Muslim countries: Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia (...)." North Korea, an officially atheist country in which inter-class marriage is forbidden, received the same grade as Israel: a zero.
Published: 6th May 2013
The countries examined are graded on a scale of 0-2, based on the degree to which freedom of marriage is guaranteed to the given country's citizens. The study shows that only in 93 (48 percent) of the countries in question there is complete or almost complete freedom of marriage (grade 2). There are partial restrictions on freedom of marriage (grade 1) in 56 (29 percent) of the countries and in 45 (23 percent) - including Israel - there are severe restrictions on freedom of marriage (grade 0). From those 45 countries where there are severe restrictions on freedom of marriage, 33 are Islamic countries.
According to the study, "Israel is the only Western democracy in the world that received the lowest grade. Its restrictions on marriage places Israel, in this regard, alongside its neighbouring Muslim countries: Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia (...)." North Korea, an officially atheist country in which inter-class marriage is forbidden, received the same grade as Israel: a zero.
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