But we don’t want to go to Israel!

Israel has enacted a policy of denying entry to American citizens of Palestinian origin.

· Palestinian-Americans who have been denied entry to Israel visit the region strictly to go into the “Palestinian Authority Areas (West Bank and Gaza).” These Americans, who have no interest in visiting Israel proper, are effectively being cut off from relatives and friends in the Palestinian Authority Areas as defined by the “Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government Arrangements of September 13, 1993 – Oslo Accords.”

· The current political situation offers no alternate point of entry into the Palestinian Authority Areas other than through Israeli controlled entry points.

· Palestinian-Americans, along with other Palestinians with foreign passports, are being denied entry by Israel even though Israel is not their destination. By turning these Palestinian-Americans away at Ben-Gurion International Airport and the two official Jordan River crossings, the Israeli government is in direct violation of the Oslo Accords – Article VI, Section 2, “…authority will be transferred to the Palestinians on the following spheres: education and culture, health, social welfare, direct taxation, and tourism …”

Allowing Palestinian-Americans into the West Bank and Gaza Strengthens the Palestinian Social Fabric and Economy and Is Not a “Security Threat” to Israel

• Because of the political and economic situation in the Palestinian Authority Areas many families are separated, with one or more family members living and working in the United States. Often, this is the only way a family can survive financially, and family members go months at a time without seeing each other. When Israel denies entry to these Americans, the entire fabric of Palestinian society suffers, with children being raised without fathers, mothers, siblings, etc. Prolonged separation eventually leads to entire families leaving the Palestinian Areas to the U.S. (or other countries) to be reunited. Israel is in effect implementing a policy of de-populating Palestinian Areas in direct violation of all international norms and agreements, particularly Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention.

• Israel denial of entry to those it claims to be a “security risk” is false. Numerous reports and first-hand accounts detail the denial of entry of young children and the very old. The practice of denying entry to those who explicitly state that they are only visiting the Palestinian Authority Areas refutes the Israeli “sovereignty” position. According to the United Nations Resolutions 242 and 338, which clearly state that lands occupied in war must be returned at the end of armed conflict. The Oslo Accords and subsequent agreements gave control and eventual sovereignty over these Palestinian Areas to the Palestinian government. Therefore, Israel has no sovereignty in the Palestinian Areas (West Bank and Gaza).
  
  
• With the current poverty rate in the West Bank and Gaza at 46%, visiting Palestinian- Americans infuse desperately needed funds into these poverty stricken areas. By denying entry to these visitors, the Israeli government is preventing hundreds of thousands of tourism and infrastructure funds from entering the fragile local economy.

What Needs to be Done

• Call your congressional representative immediately to protest Israel’s treatment of Palestinian-Americans and demand that it is not right that the U.S. State Department issues a “Travel Warning” dated June 1, 2006, that simply parrots Israel’s position. Our government must put pressure on Israel to allow Palestinian-Americans an entry point into the Palestinian Authority Areas without suffering Israeli harassment and arbitrary denial of entry.

• On behalf of our families and friends in the Palestinian Authority Areas we call on the Palestinian government (President and Prime Minister) to address this important issue of Palestinian sovereignty and human rights with their Israeli counterparts.

• We call on the U.N. Secretary General and the High Commissioner for Human Rights to use their good offices to ensure that Israel abides by international norms and agreements vis-à-vis in regards to travel to and from the Palestinian Authority Areas.

• We call on all local, national and international human rights organizations to support our efforts to end Israel’s arbitrary and cruel treatment of nationals of Palestinian origin.

Committee on Behalf of Palestinians Denied Entry