Ben Gurion Airport
Israeli authorities have implemented another way to impede free access to the occupied Palestinian territories for American travelers.
Haaretz’s Amira Hass reported over the weekend that Israel is now forbidding “tourists from the United States and other countries to enter the territories under Palestinian Authority control without a military entry permit – but it has not explained the application process to them.”
Hass’s report was published as opposition mounts to the Senate bill that grants Israelis visa-free travel to the U.S. while also codifying Israel’s practice of denying U.S. travelers entry on the basis of security concerns. That Senate bill exposes a galling aspect of the “special relationship.” All the military aid and diplomatic support to Israel doesn’t shield Americans from being routinely discriminated against based on their political affiliations or ethnic background. And Israel can count on the U.S. not putting up a fight. Having the whole Congress behind you means never having to think twice about these actions.
The policy Hass exposes is yet another example of Israeli authorities’ free reign at border crossings, which includes detaining, interrogating and deporting Americans.
Here are some of the details in the Haaretz report: Christian clerics from the United States told Hass they can’t go meet Palestinians in the West Bank because they signed an official Israeli declaration at Ben-Gurion Airport stating that they need a special military permit to visit those areas. (Their mistake, apparently, was that they were honest about wanting to visit the West Bank.) The catch is that the Israeli authorities wouldn’t explain to them how to get these permits.
Hass provides the text of the document the Christian clerics signed:
1. I understand that this permit is granted me for entry and visitation within Israel only, and it has been explained to me that I am unable to enter the areas under the control of the Palestinian Authority without advance authorization from the Territory Actions Coordinator and I agree to act in accordance with these regulations.
2. I understand that in the event that I enter any area under the control of the Palestinian Authority without the appropriate authorization all relevant legal actions will be taken against me, including deportation and denial of entry into Israel for a period of up to ten years
Americans wishing to visit illegal settlements in the West Bank do not have to sign such a document, an Israeli attorney told Hass.
It’s another element of Israel’s crackdown on foreign travel in occupied Palestine. In January 2013, Hass reported that Israel renewed restrictions on foreigners already living in the West Bank by stamping their passports with the words “Judea and Samaria.” The move, which was first revealed by the Electronic Intifada’s Ali Abunimah, aims to prohibit foreigners in the West Bank–some of whom are Palestinians who lived abroad or people who married Palestinians–from visiting East Jerusalem or Israel.
I asked Hostage the other day about the “cleverness” of a possible strategy to get Israel to “apologize,” compensate, and also get referred to the ICC (with the first two as at least contextual support for the third). He responded that it was a foreseeable cascade of triggered events that resulted in the referral. From Hostage’s description (as always, if I understood correctly), Israel failed to recognize (or didn’t care, but I’m going with failed to recognize) that impending cascade of events and wound up in a lose-lose-lose situation. That failure seems pretty rare to me. Israel, et.al. is usually right on top of those kinds of no-win situations.
Sorry for the preamble, but this development also seems to be a case of Israel not being able to foresee the obvious. With the visa legislation on the bubble, this has to be a deal killer. They’re killing something that would be to their great benefit because why? They can’t help themselves?
seafoid and many others have said it’s only a matter of time before the wheels come off. Is it actually happening? In real time?
Thanks for the timely news and analysis.
Barb Boxer’s uniquely asymetrical visa waiver bill is similar to the current IRS’s uniquely asymetrical targeting of small American conservative political groups.
No doubt the latter implementation of IRS power helped Obama win his reelection because it delayed or denied approval, and no doubt Boxer’s bill will discriminate against Americans critical of Israeli regime just as Obama’s IRS did to Americans critical of Obama regime. As a young adult during the ’60’s revolution and Nam War Era protests & Nixon’s Watergate, the current state of “progressive” US & Israel fill me with fear.
Are you listening Barbara Boxer, etc???
This is a clear example of vicious & accelerating apartheid, and probably a violation of international law. The Israelis want to hide the horror that they have created by Occupation.
They want to hide the truth. No humanitarian relief workers allowed, now no humans allowed.
(PS– and they say there is no Occupation)
“With the visa legislation on the bubble, this has to be a deal killer”
Nope. No deal killer. Boxer’s treasonous bias will stand unchallenged, and the legislation will slide through, lubricated by the able machinations of AIPAC and our subservient and thoroughly bribed body politic.
RE: “Hass’s report was published as opposition mounts to the Senate bill that grants Israelis visa-free travel to the U.S. while also codifying Israel’s practice of denying U.S. travelers entry on the basis of security concerns.” ~ Alex Kane
MY COMMENT: Allowing Israel to join the Visa Waiver Program would apparently mean that the most rabidly extremist (Israeli) settlers from the West Bank (who perpetrate “price tag” attacks like setting fire(s) to mosques) would be able to willy-nilly enter the U.S. without a visa! If that isn’t a “security threat” to the U.S., then I don’t know what the hell is!
SUGGESTED STRATEGY: As a fall back position in the event Boxer’s legislation advances, we should insist (at a bare minimum) that visa waivers should not be given to Israelis who reside outside the “green line” (i.e. outside pre-1967 Israel) in the occupied West Bank (including occupied East Jerusalem) or the occupied Golan Heights (in violation of international law). This would mean that any passport that Israel [or (in the case of “dual nationals”) any other country participating in the Visa Waiver Program, such as the U.S., the U.K., Australia, Canada etc.] provides to residents of the occupied West Bank (including occupied East Jerusalem) or the occupied Golan Heights would have to clearly indicate that the person was a resident of the occupied West Bank (including occupied East Jerusalem) or the occupied Golan Heights and therefore was not eligible for a visa waiver under the Visa Waiver Program.
LET THE LIKUDNIKS SUCK ON THAT! ! !