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‘Strategic Partner Act of 2013’ would give US seal of approval to Israeli discrimination against Arab-Americans

sandra tamari
Sandra Tamari

It was a big story last year when the US Embassy told Palestinian-American Sandra Tamari  ‘You’re not Jewish? Then we can’t do anything to help you’– and the Israelis deported her.  

SN2
Sasha Al-Sarabi and Najwa Doughman

So was the story last year by Najwa Doughman and Sasha Al-Sarabi about being detained and interrogated at Ben Gurion– “Do you feel more Arab or more American?” That story got over 20,000 shares, and along with Tamari’s account went viral.

But it wasn’t till two months ago, when Nour Joudah, a Palestinian-American teacher at the Friends School in Ramallah, was denied re-entry by Israel, that I heard of a bill to end the visa requirement for Israelis to visit the U.S.

Since then, the opposition to this bill has grown by immense proportions– and rightly so.

Nour Joudah
Nour Joudah

This sweeping legislation with the Orwellian title “The U.S.-Israel Strategic Partnership Act of 2013”, otherwise known as the Boxer/Aipac bill or the United States-Israel Strategic Subservience Act of 2013, includes a visa waiver agreement with Israel that no other country in the world has. S.B. 462  threatens to “codify Israel’s discrimination against Palestinian-, Muslim-, and Arab-Americans into US law,” by giving Israelis the right to enter the US without a visa, while preserving Israel’s “right” to deny entry to anyone.

“Anyone” means Sandra, Sasha, Najwa, and Nour. Inevitably, it could include any guests of Palestinians, including peace activists; for Israel holds the keys and it alone decides who is allowed to visit Palestine.

Here’s some of that opposition, from The Baltimore Sun. “Don’t let Israel discriminate against Americans based on religion,” by Zainab Choudry and Saqib Ali:

A bill has been introduced in the U.S. Senate that would allow a foreign country, Israel, to discriminate against select groups of American citizens — including Americans who have expressed criticism of its policies. Disappointingly, the bill, S.B. 462 (also known as the U.S.-Israel Strategic Partnership Act of 2013), is co-sponsored by Maryland Sen. Ben Cardin. Those who stand to be most affected by this piece of legislation are Arab Americans and Muslim Americans. However, it may also apply to individuals who wish to visit or work in Israel and/or the Palestinian territories that Israel has occupied since 1967. It would enshrine into U.S. law a provision allowing another country to discriminate against Americans based on their ethnicity or religion.

The purported intent of the bill, originally introduced by Sens. Barbara Boxer (a California Democrat) and Roy Blount (a Missouri Republican) at the behest of American Israel Political Action Committee (AIPAC), is to provide Israel entry into the United States’ visa waiver program, but with special allowances not afforded any other country. Normally, the visa waiver program permits, under certain conditions, foreign individuals to enter the United States without a visa. A key aspect of the program is reciprocity, meaning that countries admitted into this program must also permit Americans to enter their country without a visa. Currently, 37 countries participate in this mutually beneficial arrangement with the United States. All reciprocate by allowing American citizens to cross their borders without obtaining visas.

However, S.B. 462 contains discriminatory provisions that allow Israel to bar entry to Americans of Arab heritage or Islamic faith, anyone who is viewed to be critical of the actions of the Israeli government, or even anyone who is supportive of Palestinian rights — this, while Israel would enjoy the full benefit of the program for its own people. Rather than requiring reciprocity, the bill, as drafted, requires only that Israel make “every reasonable effort” to ensure that reciprocal travel privileges are extended to all U.S. citizens. No other waiver program nations are granted similar exemptions.

Earlier this year, Nour Joudah, a 25-year-old Palestinian-American woman, was denied entry to Israel at Ben Gurion International Airport despite holding a valid one-year multiple-entrance visa. Ms. Joudah was a full-time English teacher at the Quaker Friends School in Ramallah who had traveled to Amman for the Christmas holidays. However, when she tried to return through Israel, she was denied entry. Numerous efforts by USAID representatives and congressional staffers to secure Ms. Joudah’s re-entry were in vain. Ultimately, Ms. Nour had to inform her students via Skype that she could not return to Ramallah.

The issue of entry denial has been contentious for decades. Israel is widely recognized for especially discriminating against Arab-Americans and Muslims by preventing or making difficult their entry to Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories. When Americans of these two groups arrive in one of Israel’s ports of entry, they are often put through intense interrogations and strip searches, and in many cases are denied entry without any explanation.

The State Department’s website advises U.S. citizens “that all persons applying for entry to Israel, the West Bank, or Gaza are subject to security and police record checks by the Government of Israel, and may be denied entry or exit without explanation.” In 2006, then-Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told Arab-Americans, “I will continue to do everything in my power to support your good work, and to ensure that all American travelers receive fair and equal treatment.” Unfortunately, almost one decade later, its increasingly obvious that much work remains to be done on this front.

As for the Maryland co-sponsor, readers may recall that Senator Cardin was the topic of Bruce Wolman’s Sen. Cardin tells how he and Hillary Clinton muscled foreign ambassadors to block ‘anti-American’ Palestinian statehood. You can listen to him bragging and singing the praises of The American Jewish International Relations Institute (AJIRI) in these videos of the event: “Israel Under Siege”at Maryland’s Ohr Kodesh synagogue.

Sen. Cardin’s affirmation of civil rights seems farcical when you consider what he’s willing to grant Israel: 

Every individual must have an equal opportunity to live his or her life and fulfill the American Dream. This is only possible when the government protects the civil rights and civil liberties of every citizen. No one is above the law. We must strive to find a balance that allows us to uphold the U.S. Constitution and protect our civil liberties while simultaneously fulfilling our solemn obligation to protect the American people.

Civil rights and civil liberties are the building blocks of the rule of law in our country.

Sandra Tamari is organizing against the racial profiling. From an email I received from her today:

If we don’t act now, this de facto US sponsorship of Israeli racial profiling could become the law of the land.
…..

This bill is an affront to basic principles of equality and dignity.  And it’s further evidence of the overwhelmingly biased US approach to Israel – a policy that harms all Americans.
As Senator Boxer’s constituent, you can change this bill.  

Please call Senator Boxer TODAY:

Identify yourself and tell her office that you are very disappointed with her sponsorship of the US-Israeli Strategic Partnership Act of 2013.

Tell her the Visa Waiver that sanctions Israel’s blatant discrimination against US citizens, particularly Arab-Americans, is especially disturbing.

Urge her to take the Visa Waiver out of the Senate bill.

Finally, ask her to issue a strong statement that condemns Israel’s discriminatory practice of refusing entrance to some U.S. citizens.

Her office numbers are:

202-224-3553: DC Office
510-286-8537: Oakland Office
213-894-5000: LA Office

After you’ve made your call, please email us at congress@jvp.org to let us know you’ve called and any response you get.

This is an opportunity to make a difference!  

Thank you,

Sandra Tamari

Besides Boxer, the bill has 23 co-sponsors, senators who seem to care more about serving the Israeli government than ours. So if you live in any of these states you might want to give these sponsors a piece of your mind.

Cosponsors by U.S. State or Territory

Arkansas [2]
Kansas [2]
Missouri [2]
Alaska [1]
Connecticut [1]
Georgia [1]
Hawaii [1]
Idaho [1]
Maine [1]
Maryland [1]
Michigan [1]
Minnesota [1]
Montana [1]
Nebraska [1]
Nevada [1]
New Mexico [1]
North Dakota [1]
Oregon [1]
Pennsylvania [1]
Texas [1]
West Virginia [1]

 

(Hat tip Shelley Fudge)

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You’re a liar, Annie. Simple as it is.
“Travelers to the United States who have been denied entry into the United States, have been deported or removed, or have overstayed on a prior visit are not eligible to travel visa free under the Visa Waiver Program. They are required to apply for apply for B-1 or B-2 visas before traveling.”
http://london.usembassy.gov/add_req.html

These dual Palestinian-US citizens can be denied entry as any other person, trying to enter Israel. Moreover, following Oslo accords, dual Palestinian citizens, as one who was born on West Bank or Gaza, or had obtained Palestinian citizenship later, are required to present their Palestinian passport and can be denied entry into Israel, while permitted entry into Gaza.
There is NO obligation to permit the unrestricted entry of US citizens and there will be no such obligation for the Israeli citizens as well. Visa waiver or visa issuance do not guarantee the entry in any state.

RE: S.B. 462 threatens to “codify Israel’s discrimination against Palestinian-, Muslim-, and Arab-Americans into US law,” by giving Israelis the right to enter the US without a visa, while preserving Israel’s “right” to deny entry to anyone. “Anyone” means Sandra, Sasha, Najwa, and Nour. Inevitably, it could include any guests of Palestinians, including peace activists; for Israel holds the keys and it alone decides who is allowed to visit Palestine. ~ Annie Robbins

MY COMMENT: This effort by Israel’s Likudnik supporters to force the U.S. to give Israel a special exemption that would effectively allow Israel to discriminate against American travelers it sees as “security threats” (largely meaning people with Palestinian or Arab backgrounds), and also allow Israel to blacklist Americans viewed by them as sympathetic to the Palestinians (even merely as a consequence of constitutionally protected speech exercised here in the U.S.) is yet another reason I fear that Revisionist Zionism and Likudnik Israel (specifically by virtue of their inordinate sway over the U.S.) might very well be an “existential threat” to the values of The Enlightenment [like the right to “due process” and “the right of free speech”] ! ! !
“Down, down, down we [the U.S.] go into the deep, dark abyss; hand in hand with Israel.”

OTHER EXAMPLES OF ISRAEL’S VALUES TRUMPING (OVERRIDING) THE VALUES OF THE ENLIGHTENMENT HERE IN THE U.S.
“How We Became Israel”, By Andrew J. Bacevich, The American Conservative, 9/10/12
LINK – http://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/how-we-became-israel/
“America Adopts the Israel Paradigm”, by Philip Ghiraldi, Antiwar.com, 7/05/12
LINK – http://original.antiwar.com/giraldi/2012/07/04/america-adopts-the-israel-paradigm/
“Report: Israeli model underlies militarization of U.S. police”, By Muriel Kane, Raw Story, 12/04/11
LINK – http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/12/04/report-israeli-model-underlies-militarization-of-u-s-police/
“From Occupation to ‘Occupy’: The Israelification of American Domestic Security”, By Max Blumenthal, Al-akhbar, 12/02/11
LINK – http://english.al-akhbar.com/node/2178 OR http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article29892.htm
On the Wish List from the Boston Bombings – The Israelization of America (Aaron Cohen, “National Security Expert” on Fox “News” saying that we need to “get on the Israeli page”) [VIDEO, 00:24] – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fff8dXQNVdA
“In bill discriminating against Arab- and Muslim-Americans, Boxer and 17 other senators serve Israeli gov’t over their own — Greenwald”, By Philip Weiss, Mondoweiss, 4/13/13
LINK – http://mondoweiss.net/2013/04/discriminating-americans-greenwald.html
“The Second Battle of Gaza: Israel’s Undermining Of International Law”, by Jeff Halper, mrzine.monthlyreview.org, 02/26/10
LINK – http://mrzine.monthlyreview.org/2010/halper260210.html
“The Trial of Israel’s Campus Critics”, by David Theo Goldberg & Saree Makdisi, Tikkun Magazine, September/October 2009
LINK – http://www.tikkun.org/article.php/sept_oct_09_goldberg_makdisi
“Brooklyn College’s academic freedom increasingly threatened over Israel event”, by Glenn Greenwald, guardian.co.uk, 2/02/13
LINK – http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/feb/02/brooklyn-college-bds-alan-dershowitz
“Peter ‘Powder Keg’ Beinart is disinvited from gig at Atlanta Jewish book festival”, by Annie Robbins, Mondoweiss, 11/05/12
LINK – http://mondoweiss.net/2012/11/peter-powder-keg-beinart-is-disinvited-from-gig-at-atlanta-jewish-book-festival.html
‘Israelis are helping write US laws, fund US campaigns, craft US war policy’, by Philip Weiss, Mondoweiss, 6/30/12
LINK – http://mondoweiss.net/2012/06/israelis-are-helping-write-us-laws-fund-us-campaigns-craft-us-war-policy.html
“David Yerushalmi, Islam-Hating White Supremacist Inspires Anti-Sharia Bills Sweeping Tea Party Nation”, by Richard Silverstein, Tikun Olam, 3/02/11
LINK – http://www.richardsilverstein.com/tikun_olam/2011/03/02/david-yerushalmi-islam-hating-white-supremacist/
“Boston airport security program rife with racial profiling has Israeli links”, by Alex Kane, Mondoweiss, 8/14/12
LINK – http://mondoweiss.net/2012/08/boston-airport-security-program-rife-with-racial-profiling-has-israeli-links.html
“Obama’s kill list policy compels US support for Israeli attacks on Gaza”, By Glenn Greenwald, guardian.co.uk, 11/15/12
LINK – http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/nov/15/israel-gaza-obama-assassinations

P.S. AND HERE’S ANOTHER THREAT TO THE VALUES OF “THE ENLIGHTENMENT” BY ISRAEL’S ALLIES:
“US Religious Right Propelling Homophobia in African Countries”
, by Common Dreams, 7/24/12
LINK – http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2012/07/24-7

How can we agree that any Israeli can come to America without even getting a visa, but normal categories of American citizens cannot go to their territory even with one?

“The U.S.-Israel Strategic Partnership Act of 2013”

Orwellian as usual.

Is there a formal treaty between US and Israel? No.
Does Israel take? Yes.
Does Israel give? No.
Is Israel a strategic liability? Yes.
How would you characterise the following US Senators:
• Sen. Boxer, Barbara [D-CA] – traitor
• Sen. Blunt, Roy [R-MO] – traitor
• Sen. Cardin, Benjamin L. [D-MD] – traitor
• Sen. Manchin, Joe, III [D-WV] – traitor
• Sen. Cornyn, John [R-TX] – traitor
• Sen. Collins, Susan M. [R-ME] – traitor
• Sen. Wyden, Ron [D-OR] – traitor
• Sen. Casey, Robert P., Jr. [D-PA] – traitor
• Sen. Stabenow, Debbie [D-MI] – traitor
• Sen. Blumenthal, Richard [D-CT] – traitor
• Sen. Schatz, Brian [D-HI] – traitor
• Sen. Crapo, Mike [R-ID] – traitor
• Sen. Boozman, John [R-AR] – traitor
• Sen. Johanns, Mike [R-NE] – traitor
• Sen. Heinrich, Martin [D-NM] – traitor
• Sen. Hoeven, John [R-ND] – traitor
• Sen. Moran, Jerry [R-KS] – traitor
• Sen. Chambliss, Saxby [R-GA] – traitor
• Sen. Klobuchar, Amy [D-MN] – traitor
• Sen. McCaskill, Claire [D-MO] – traitor
• Sen. Begich, Mark [D-AK] – traitor
• Sen. Pryor, Mark L. [D-AR] – traitor
• Sen. Roberts, Pat [R-KS] – traitor
• Sen. Tester, Jon [D-MT] – traitor
• Sen. Heller, Dean [R-NV] – traitor

So Israel wants to enforce racist legislation in a foreign country, in order to benefit itself and entrench its own version of apartheid. Moreover a foreign country which built its principles on equality of its citizens before the law. How retrograde, how cynical and how entirely predictable. Israel cannot see beyond its own deeply unpleasant racism, and its own deluded sense of self-importance, not to mention smug arrogance. This is like Texas asking for exemption from civil rights and sending the KKK to Washington to demand laws for its own benefit. Never was a country and a system so blind to its own bigoted ideology, but what is most pernicious is its desire to spread it to others, and make them conform to their anti-humanism.