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Thursday, August 20, 2009

State Department rips Israel over "PA only" visas

On Sunday, I reported that Israel has started stamping restricted visas into passports at Ben Gurion Airport and the Allenby Bridge crossing. The visas restrict people who want to visit areas in the 'Palestinian Authority' to which Israelis are not allowed to go solely to those areas in the 'Palestinian Authority.' The issue came up in Wednesday's press briefing at the State Department.

Let's go to the videotape. The segment in question runs from 15:44 to 18:06 (you can drag the arrow to the right place). A transcript will follow.

QUESTION: A follow-up on the PA-only stamp issued by Israel to U.S. citizens going into Israel, just to follow up on that. I saw that you guys released --

MR. KELLY: Yeah.

QUESTION: -- something. You said that you’re engaged with the Government of Israel. Just more clarification. Have you complained to them about this specifically? Have you asked them to stop issuing it to your U.S. citizens, and do you consider it a violation of the Oslo Accords?

MR. KELLY: Oh, well, the latter – the latter issue that’s, I think, something that I probably would want somebody else to pronounce on if it’s a violation of the Oslo because I’m not familiar enough with the Oslo Accords to be able to make a judgment one way or the other.

As our note said last night, we have made it quite known to the Israeli Government, and this is, I think, really on the diplomatic level, that we expect all American citizens to be treated the same regardless of their national origin. And this kind of – these kinds of restrictions we consider unacceptable. And I’d refer you to the Israeli Government for – in terms of their --

QUESTION: So you don’t know if they’re going to stop doing it or not, or if you specifically asked them to stop issuing these specific stamps?

MR. KELLY: We have told them that we think this is – that we cannot accept this kind of practice.

QUESTION: Do you know at what level – do you know if – how many Americans have complained to the U.S. Consulate in Jerusalem? How --

MR. KELLY: No.

QUESTION: -- serious you consider this?

MR. KELLY: No. I’m not aware of the kind of numbers of – the number of people who have complained.

Libby.

QUESTION: Different topic.

QUESTION: Wait, wait. Can I – can we go back? First of all, what does that mean we cannot accept this kind of practice? You also can’t accept, you know, continued building of settlements, and they seem to be doing that.

MR. KELLY: Yeah.

QUESTION: So what exactly does that mean?

MR. KELLY: Well, it means that this kind of practice is something that the U.S. Government believes should not be done. This is not --

QUESTION: Yeah, but you say we can’t --

MR. KELLY: -- something that we can accept.

QUESTION: But it’s not – you have to accept it, if that’s what they’re doing.

MR. KELLY: Well --

QUESTION: What are you going to do if they don’t stop?

MR. KELLY: We will continue to protest.

QUESTION: But that won’t make any difference --

QUESTION: That – I mean, it’s not a question of whether you can accept it or not. They’re doing it.

MR. KELLY: Yeah.

QUESTION: So?

MR. KELLY: It is what it is. We don’t like the practice.
How do you like that? Mr. Kelly acknowledges that Israel is a sovereign nation and that the United States cannot tell it what to do.

Does anyone know who the reporters are? What do they expect - that the US will order Israel to stop the practice?

If Israel were to stop the practice, the result would be that all Americans - and maybe even all foreign tourists - would find themselves undergoing questioning at Ben Gurion before they are admitted to the country. That reminds me of the difference between the Israeli approach to airport security (which uses profiling) and the American approach (which stops 80-year old grandmothers with steel plates in their hips but not 25-year old Islamists). You can decide for yourselves which approach you think is better. Anyone who has been reading this blog for a while knows which approach I prefer.

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 7:43 AM

4 Comments:

At 8:36 AM, Blogger NormanF said...

If the US wants Israel to drop the new policy, the trade-off that will likely happen is some people are simply going to be refused visas. They will not be allowed to come to Israel at all. And that will impact the very people the US wants to help. The policy does inconvenience some Americans. But Israel's primary responsibility is to safeguard the lives of its citizens and to protect its existence. And I don't Israel abandoning it in the face of an ill-tempered State Department protest.

 
At 5:04 PM, Blogger Unknown said...

Israel is a rouge nation! When will America stop pandering to them with words like "unacceptable" and "consequences" when nothing is every done about their terrorists actions. We need to get tough with them, show them that we mean business and stop protecting them and aiding them. If they choose that behavior then they are on their own!

 
At 6:26 AM, Blogger briplox said...

It's simple. Stop selling arms to Israel. Stop giving aid. Stop using the US veto in the UN on their behalf. Stop guaranteeing Israel's security.

With "friends" like Israel, who needs enemies?

The days of preventing Israel from being pushed into the sea must end.

You don't do this to your supposed ally. These actions show us that Israel has never been an ally. Instead it has merely been using the US for the last 60 years to help capture, settle and protect their lebensraum in the illegally occupied west bank.

Enough is enough. The "special relationship" is over!

 
At 7:51 AM, Blogger Carl in Jerusalem said...

wagner.donna and briplox,

Unfortunately, holding an American passport does not testify to non-involvement in terror. Rachel Corrie was an abettor of terror (I've documented her death at length elsewhere on this site). The International Solidarity Movement - which is largely American citizens - is a terror organization. Go read their web site. Israel will do what it needs to do to protect itself - whether America likes it or not.

And Briplox, you're right. With the moron who currently occupies the White House, there is no 'special relationship.' But hopefully on January 20, 2013, there will be one again.

 

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