A DNA test gives a Palestinian refugee the Spanish nationality

In a strange incident, the life of the young woman, Heba Iskandrani, was turned upside down after her DNA test turned her from a Palestinian refugee to a Spanish citizen.

Hiba lived for years as a refugee in Lebanon and spent years searching for an identity or a country to embrace.

After years of researching her family's history, she led her to find documents and evidence that reveal that her ancestors trace their ancestry back to Spain.

And after another long and painstaking search, she concluded that her lineage goes back to a Jewish family that fled Spain 600 years ago.

Heba says, "For 12 years, I have been searching for an identity or a country that will take me. In Lebanon, I do not feel that I am Lebanese, and I cannot enter Palestine ... I have no part in this conflict."


This discovery made it possible for a gift to apply for Spanish citizenship, based on Spanish law, allowing that for everyone who has proven his Spanish roots.

Applicants must prove their origins - through a local rabbi or study of pedigree - and pass an exam in Spanish at the Cervantes Institute, in the case of those who do not speak this language, and all applicants must pass an exam in Spanish culture and society.