Israel Matzav

US revokes 'Palestinian' 'scholars' visas

Remember the Fulbright kerfuffle back in June? Remember how US Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice nearly ripped Israel some new body parts over its refusal to let seven 'Palestinians' leave the Gaza Strip for interviews for US visas so they could come to the US to 'study' on Fulbright scholarships? Remember how the US State Department finally admitted that it was partially at fault for the foul up? Well guess what: The US has gotten some 'additional information' and it has now decided to revoke three of those visas plus another visa that had previously been granted to a 'Palestinian' who wanted to come to the US under a different program. Hmm.

"There were four Palestinians who were issued visas about whom we then received additional information," State Department spokesman Gonzalo Gallegos said.

"We decided that we needed to take a closer and harder look at them in light of the additional information we received," said Gallegos.

He also said the visas were canceled under a prudential revocation clause in immigration rules that allows them to be rescinded based on information gleaned about the holders after they were issued.

"It does not preclude the applicants from reapplying for visas in the future," he said.

Gallegos declined to comment on the nature of the new information about the four Palestinians, one of whom had actually arrived at Dulles International Airport outside Washington before he was told his visa had been revoked and was forced to return to Jordan.

But another official familiar with the situation said the information related to security issues that were behind the refusal by Israeli authorities to allow them to leave Gaza to be interviewed for visas at the U.S. Consulate in Jerusalem in May.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity due to privacy concerns about visa records.

The visa revocations were first reported by The New York Times.

Of course, if you live in the US and you read the Slimes, you get a very different view of the situation.

The State Department has, for a second time in two months, reneged on its offer to three Palestinians in Gaza to study in the United States on Fulbright grants, this time citing unspecified security concerns.

...

Four of the seven were cleared but three were told by Israel that they were security risks and could not enter the country. Skeptical American officials asked for details but said they only got broad accusations of links to Hamas; the officials still wanted to offer the grants. The consulate brought from Washington high-priced mobile fingerprinting equipment and sent several officials to the Israel-Gaza border to interview the three Palestinians on July 10.

Three weeks later, on July 30, all three were informed that they had cleared the security screening and were granted their visas.

Two days later, the visas were revoked although not before Israel allowed one of the grantees, Fidaa Abed, to leave Gaza to fly to Washington unaware of his changed status. He was informed at the airport that his visa was no longer valid, flown back to Amman, Jordan, and instructed to return to Gaza. He remains in Amman.

On Monday, the American Consulate in Jerusalem sent letters to Mr. Abed and the two other grantees still in Gaza saying “information has come to light that you may be inadmissible to the United States,” and therefore their visas were being revoked. In Washington, Gonzalo Gallegos, a State Department spokesman, declined to get into specifics, but said that the visas were revoked because “we got more information” about the grantees.

By the way, of the four who were cleared, one dropped out. Three are apparently now in the US. And the other three apparently have closer connections to Hamas and terrorism than Condi was willing to admit two months ago.

Don't hold your breaths waiting for Condi or anyone else at State to apologize.

Heh.

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 7:45 AM