Israel Matzav

Israel confining international activitists' to Judea and Samaria

Israel has been stamping the passports of international 'activists' who are living and working with 'Palestinians' in Judea and Samaria with special stamps that bar them from all of Jerusalem and other areas within the 1949 armistice lines.

Israel recently renewed restrictions on the freedom of movement of foreigners nationals who live and work in the West Bank that prohibit them from entering East Jerusalem or Israel. The changes were discovered when foreigners learned, after renewing their tourist visas, that the words "Judea and Samaria only" had been stamped inside. Citizens from these countries who come to live in Israel or Jewish settlements in the West Bank are not subjected to these restrictions.

Neither the Interior Ministry's Population and Immigration Authority nor the coordinator of government activities in the territories responded to questions from Haaretz concerning the number of long-term foreign residents of the West Bank.

Some of these individuals are Palestinians who were born in the West Bank and whose residency status was rescinded by Israel prior to 1994 due to their prolonged residence abroad. Others are married to Palestinians, while still others work in the West Bank, often as university teachers.

The American Consulate in Jerusalem has expressed its displeasure with the restrictions. They contravene prior understandings to lift similar restrictions that the Interior Ministry imposed suddenly in the summer of 2009, when "PA only" was stamped in Western nationals' passports.

The Israeli government insists that there is no change in policy, but Haaretz is insisting otherwise. From reading the full article (which is behind Haaretz's paywall), it appears that most of the people in question are 'Palestinians' who hold citizenship in western countries, mostly the US. It sounds like they could avoid the problem by going directly to Israeli government offices to renew their visas rather than submitting them through the 'Palestinian Authority' (although that might not work for those whose visas have been stamped already).

Israel has a real concern with foreign 'activists' participating in terror activities against it. Recall this.

Every country has the right to control who enters that country and whether and how long they are allowed to stay. So long as these people are not Israeli citizens, Israel is within its rights to bar them or restrict their movements.

Labels: foreign activists, terrorists

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 12:47 PM