The Biden administration seems insistent on pushing Israel into the visa waiver program, but unless it forces Israel to ensure complete freedom of movement for Palestinian dual nationals any policy changes are meaningless.
Coming soon if a Palestinian-American wants to travel to the occupied West Bank to visit their family, they will need to apply to the Israeli government for advanced permission, reveal the personal information of the relatives they plan on visiting, along with data of any land they own or stand to inherit in the territory. These are just some of the invasive restrictions that Palestinians who hold foreign passports would be subjected to according to a new ordinance published by the Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories, the Israeli government agency responsible for enforcing Israeli policy in the occupied territory. “This is Apartheid in action,” Ahmed Abofoul, a lawyer with Palestinian human rights organization Al-Haq told Mondoweiss of the new policy.
Israel’s Supreme Court said Lara Alqasem, the 22-year-old Palestinian-American student detained for 15 days at Ben Gurion airport, is free to enter the country and pursue studies. Though championed by J Street and Americans for Peace Now, Alqasem got no public support from her representatives, Florida Senators Nelson and Rubio, and Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz.
On July 12th, about five days after Israel began to bombard Gaza with the airstrikes of Operation Protective Edge, Julia Carmel arrived at the Israeli-operated Allenby border terminal to cross into the occupied West Bank. Followed by ten hours of detention, interrogation, and some humiliation, she was denied entry by the IDF. Her long-anticipated plans to return to Beit Sahur – to learn, do research, and assist a friend’s community development project for the next two months – were dissolved by two magavniks, who sent her back to Jordan without a legitimate reason and at her own expense.