Court weighs US passport dispute over Jerusalem
by FREDERIC J. FROMMER, Associated Press
Mar 19, 2013 | 397 views | 0 0 comments | 3 3 recommendations | email to a friend | print
WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal appeals court has some tough questions about the politically sensitive issue of whether Americans born in Jerusalem can list Israel as their birthplace on their U.S. passports.

A 2002 law says yes, but the State Department says no. That led to a lawsuit by parents of an American boy who was born in a Jerusalem hospital. The United States has refused to recognize any nation's sovereignty over Jerusalem since Israel's creation in 1948, so the boy's passport only says "Jerusalem" as his birthplace.

At a hearing Tuesday, the three judges had pointed questions for lawyers representing both sides — the State Department and the parents.

The hearing came on the same day that President Barack Obama heads to Israel for his first visit there as president.
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