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For the first time since 1967, Israel is
preventing the entry of Palestinians with foreign citizenship, most of
them Americans, who are arriving from abroad, but have lived and worked
for years in the West Bank.
According to a growing number of
continue living in the territories on tourist visas, renewable every
three months by exiting and reentering the country, or it granted them
work permits.
Citizens of Arab states (whether or not of Palestinian origin) have been
barred from entering Israel since 2000. A handful were allowed in as
"exceptional humanitarian cases" - mostly when a first-degree relative
is dying or has died - but even this practice was suspended in April.
One of the demands that Israel has posed in specific cases which
attorney Leah Tsemel represented before the High Court of Justice, is
that applications for visitation permits be authorized by a low-ranking
official from the Palestinian Interior Ministry, who is not affiliated
with Hamas. The ministry refuses to comply with this condition. Now it
turns out that this policy has been extended to U.S. and European
citizens.
An Israeli Interior Ministry spokesperson told Haaretz that this is not
a new policy, but merely a "procedural updating." But the High Court
petitions department at the State Prosecutor's Office, which has been
addressing the phenomenon with regard to several specific petitions,
wrote Tsemel on May 2, 2006 that a policy on entry of foreign nationals
to the West Bank would be formulated only "at the start of next week."
Since then Tsemel has not learned whether such a policy was indeed
drafted.
The U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv told Haaretz that no Israeli official
informed them of a change in entry policy, and said that the United
States cannot intervene in sovereign decisions of another country.
Several people who were refused entry and spoke with U.S.
representatives said that the consulate and embassy are well aware of
the apparently new
policy.
An e-mail from the department of U.S. Citizen Services in Jerusalem to a
U.S. citizen who had inquired about entering the West Bank stated that
the consul general had met with a representative from the Israeli
Interior Ministry regarding the government's entry policies: "The
Israeli official conceded that 90-day visa entry cards, which were once
routinely granted in the past, especially to U.S. citizens, are now more
difficult
to obtain, specifically for Palestinian American citizens traveling to
the West Bank and for U.S. nationals affiliated with humanitarian
organizations. Both the U.S. Embassy and the Consulate in Jerusalem are
pursuing the issue."
Israel's Civil Administration stated in response that "the entry to the
region of foreigners who are not residents of the territories takes
place by means of visit permits issued by the Palestinian Authority and
approved by the Israeli side," because coordination stopped after
September 2000, and entry was permitted in exceptional humanitarian
cases - a practice that was also suspended after the Hamas government
was
formed. Today, the statement continued, cases "involving special
humanitarian need" are being considered.
The Civil Administration confirmed that the applications must be
conveyed by a low-ranking official who is unaffiliated with Hamas. The
Interior Ministry and Civil Administration declined to comment on the
fact that for 40 years, Palestinian citizens of Western countries did
not required a "visitation permit."
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