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PLO Mission to the USA Welcomes State Department Protest to Israel for
Denying Entry to Palestinian- Americans and Other Foreign Passport
Holders to the occupied Palestinian territory
(Washington, DC November 1, 2006) Israeli's continued violation of
international and human rights law in the occupied Palestinian
territory (oPt) has taken a downward turn. Israel is now refusing to
allow American citizens, as well as other foreign passport holders,
access into Israel if the person is destined to the occupied
Palestinian territory. Given the only way to reach oPt is by way of
Israeli controlled points of entry, this new Israeli policy amounts
to a sophisticated form of population transfer, in addition to a
policy of discrimination against US citizens.
As the region marks the first anniversary of the Access and Movement
Agreement, personally negotiated and endorsed by Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice, it is unfortunate that Israel is undermining the
essence and vision of this agreement by adding yet another
restriction on foreign citizens traveling to the West Bank and Gaza
Strip.
While the recent complaint by the U.S. State Department to the Israeli
Embassy in Washington regarding the new travel restriction on
Americans, particularly Palestinian Americans, wishing to reach the
oPt is welcomed by the PLO Mission to the USA as a first step, it
must be followed-up by further action to ensure a policy change.
Since March 2006, scores of foreign nationals have been denied entry to
the oPt - the majority being U.S. citizens. The ramifications are
disturbing and potentially long-term: families are being separated,
investment is both being disrupted and stifled, and academic
institutions are losing staff, to name but a few.
In the past, foreign spouses of Palestinian ID holders have relied on a
system of continuously renewable three month tourist visas in order
to reside with their families. Many spouses are now finding
themselves at risk of being separated from their families when they
attempt to renew their visa. Israel is refusing to accept these
foreign nationals living in the oPt as "tourists" while having
effectively closed off all other options to reside legally in the
area.
Likewise, investors in the oPt engaged in building a strong Palestinian
economy are routinely denied entry by Israel. Without investment
efforts towards building a sustainable economy, Palestinians will
remain dependent on donor funds, including American tax dollars.
Recently, eleven Palestinian academic institutions made a public call
protesting Israeli's visa policy. The largest university in the West
Bank, Birzeit University, has seen a 50% decline in employees with
foreign passports since May 2006. The University also hosts nearly
400 non- resident students from seventeen countries, all of whom are
at risk of having their education disrupted if their visas are not
renewed. Mr. Afif Safieh, Head of the PLO Mission to the USA,
states, “it is imperative that the international community
immediately intervene to ensure that international humanitarian and
human rights laws are applied in the occupied Palestinian
territories in order to safeguard a civilian population under
occupation, including its foreign nationals. If Palestinians and
foreign nationals are forced out of Palestine by their occupier,
then any talk of peace will, sooner rather than later, be a peace
without people.
The PLO Mission appeals to the U.S. Administration to:
- Use its unmatched political leverage on Israel to allow entry to
foreign passport holders to the occupied Palestinian territory for
short- or long-term purposes;
- Pressure Israel to process all pending applications for family
unification in the oPt.
Many of the foreign nationals, who are being denied entry at Israeli
entry points, are precisely the elements required to secure a
pluralistic, modern and moderate society. Without these foreign
national resources, Palestinians will not able to neither foster
economic development nor meet the obligations demanded of them by
the international community.
PLO Mission to the United States
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