US slams Israeli restrictions on Arab-American travelers

Published yesterday (updated) 19/08/2009 14:17

Bethlehem – Ma’an –

The US views Israeli occupation government rules targeting Arab-American travelers and restricting their access to the West Bank as unfair and unacceptable, the State Department said on Wednesday.

“We have repeatedly told the Government of Israel that the United States expects that all American citizens to be treated equally, regardless of their national origin or other citizenship,” the State Department said in a statement responding to an earlier question asked at a Washington press briefing on restrictions placed on Arabs and Palestinians in Israel.

“We have let the Government of Israel know that these restrictions unfairly impact Palestinian and Arab American travelers and are not acceptable,” the statement continued.

The statement, released overnight, responded to restrictions recently imposed on American and other foreign passport holders at the Israeli-controlled Allenby Bridge border crossing. The statement did not address reports that Israel has been restricting access and entry to the country for internationals with no family ties to Palestine or the Arab world, but who indicated an interest in visiting the West Bank during questioning at passport control both at the Allenby Bridge and Ben Gurion International Airport near Tel Aviv, according to the watchdog and rights group Right to Enter, based in Ramallah.

Palestinian, Arab and other internationals of various origins have received a visa stamp that restricts them to “Palestinian Authority areas” only, a designation that theoretically would prevent travelers even from moving from one West Bank city to another, as most inter-city roads are under direct Israeli military control. In practice the stamp bars holders the passport bearer from entering Jerusalem, areas west of the separation wall, or Green Line Israel.

Normally, the bearers of passports from Europe, North America and dozens of other nationalities are granted visas allowing them to travel throughout Israel and the West Bank for three months as tourists. Foreign nationals who also possess Palestinian Authority ID cards are automatically excluded from Jerusalem and areas inside the Green Line.