A group of representatives of the Palestinian-American community met with officials from the US State Department and the US Department of Homeland Security to discuss the latest developments in the discussions that the United States is conducting with the Israeli occupation government regarding the treatment of Palestinian Americans as all Americans of different ethnic origins upon entering or leaving Penn Airport. Gurion or across bridges to and from the occupied West Bank, or the besieged Gaza Strip.

It is noteworthy that the United States has been in continuous discussions since 2021 with successive Israeli governments (since then) regarding exempting Israelis from a visa to enter the United States in return for Israel's pledge to treat Palestinian Americans who visit the occupied Palestinian territories or the Gaza Strip without complications or racist treatment, or Subjecting them to demands and standards that are not imposed on other Americans.

At the beginning of this month, the United States announced, in response to a question by the Al-Quds.com reporter, about the latest developments in the “visa exemption issue for Israelis,” by saying, “Israel has not yet met the required qualifications for exemption, including treating Palestinian Americans equally with all Americans.” According to Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel in his reply.

On behalf of the Palestinian community, the meeting was attended by representatives of: Adalah Organization; the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC); Ramallah Federation, Palestine (AFRP); Americans for Justice in Palestine (AJP) Palestinians Americans for Peace; Palestinian Women's Organization; the Arab American Foundation; Beit Sahour Organization, USA; Bir Zeit Organization, USA; and the Alliance of Palestinian American Organizations.

On the official US side, the following were present from the Department of Homeland Security: Serena Hoy, Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security for International Affairs; Assistant Secretary Brenda Abdel-Aal, Partnership Office Affairs; Robert Paschal, Senior Deputy Assistant Secretary for International Affairs at the US Department of Homeland Security.

and from the US State Department: Special Representative for Palestinian Affairs Hadi Amr; Andrew P. Miller, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Israeli-Palestinian Affairs in the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs of the US State Department.

The representative of the Ramallah Union, Dr. Hanna Hanania, said at the beginning of the meeting: “We are united in our demand that there be no exceptions for Israel and the application of the rules of the program fully and equally; this cannot be a negotiation, and there is no room for concessions or compromise” in this field.

Hanania added, "We insist on reciprocity, and that it means that Americans (all Americans, including those of Palestinian origin) can travel to and through all entry points and checkpoints controlled by Israel, including Gaza and inside the Green Line, without hindrance and without discrimination." .

Regarding entry to and from the Gaza Strip, Fidaa Al-Eidi asked: “Will Palestinian American citizens, who hold an ID card in Gaza, be able to visit their families in Gaza by going to the airport and then to the Erez crossing to enter Gaza, and then exit through Erez to go to Jerusalem to pray, Then visit their families in the West Bank by crossing the checkpoint in Bethlehem, then return to the airport through the Qalandiya checkpoint, and return to the United States via Ben Gurion Airport?”

In turn, George Salem, a well-known lawyer in Washington, who worked as Deputy US Attorney General during the era of former US President Ronald Reagan, said: “All forms of travel bans on entry and exit issued by Israel without due legal procedures must be ended, and it should not be The Israeli authorities can use previous visa denial decisions that were taken without due process as a basis for a blanket refusal of entry.

Salem added, “In the event of a refusal of entry, Israel must provide a detailed written explanation of the reason for the refusal. This explanation must go further than simply stating the reason for the denial, as Israel has consistently abused ‘national security’ as a basis for refusing movement. It should also The use of prolonged detention and interrogation of American (Palestinian) travelers ends upon entry and exit. Israel must stop taking personal property, including, but not limited to, personal computers, watches, game consoles, tablets, phones, etc.”

The attendees confirmed to Al-Quds.com reporter that the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Homeland Security fully understand the Palestinian concern and concerns about granting Israel and the Israelis a visa exemption, and that the US administration will grant Israel a visa exemption only when it completes the qualifications required of other countries, including fully treating the Palestinians. Like all Americans in and out.

The meeting came as a result of a letter sent by the American-Palestinian and Arab-American organizations to US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on May 16 regarding the possibility of including Israel among countries exempt from entry visas to the United States.

“We write to you on behalf of hundreds of thousands of Palestinian Americans, Arab Americans, and allied communities across the United States to express our deep concern about the prospect of Israel being accepted into the US Visa Waiver Program as the Israeli government continues to discriminate against American citizens and deny Palestinians their right and human rights,” the letter said. the basic".

The letter notes that the text of the VWP states that participating countries must provide "reciprocal privileges to citizens and nationals of the United States," in accordance with Section 217 of the Immigration and Nationality Act. And in the Visa Waiver Program, reciprocity is based on the simple assumption that every American traveling on a US passport—regardless of race, creed, ethnic background, or secondary nationality—is treated in the same way as the United States treats foreign nationals. From the country participating in the Visa Waiver Program at all entry and transit points. In practice, this means that there is no discrimination against individuals on the basis of racial, national, religious, ethnic, etc. background/identity, and that access to that country is not restricted, as is the case for foreign nationals coming to the United States, during the period covered by the Waiver Program. visa.

The letter notes, "Israel's record of systematically discriminating against Palestinian American citizens because of their secondary nationalities, ethnicities, religions, and political views is a well-documented fact that the State Department attests to, and many members of our community have also experienced racial/ethnic profiling and inhumane treatment directly as part of Israel's actions." discrimination, including prolonged detention and interrogation, invasive interrogation, physical and electronic searches, confiscation of personal electronic devices, and denial of entry; in addition, Israel refuses to recognize the priority of US passports for Palestinian Americans included in the population registry, subjecting them to enhanced and exclusionary travel restrictions Rather than act to rectify these egregious violations, the Israeli government codified them in the Department of Defense's Coordination of Government Activities in the Occupied Territories (COGAT)" on October 3. The provisions in this measure effectively bar the majority of American citizens from entering the Palestinian West Bank for visits. short term. In contrast, these restrictions do not apply to US citizens who visit illegal Israeli settlements within the West Bank, clearly demonstrating their inherently discriminatory objective.