Dissecting Israel's freeze on visas
[It is sad to see Israel and the U.S. running on parallel tracks, splitting up families on dubious grounds. We in the U.S. -- mainly covertly -- have been rounding up immigrants -- documented with green cards as well as undocumented, denying legitimate refugee status to precisely people who have fled from repressive regimes and, thus, are our best assets with language skills and cultural awareness for fending off attacks by terrorists. I have been watching families being torn apart in the process or else fleeing elsewhere to avoid covert, long term, brutal incarceration here or deportation precisely to the country from which they have fled. I would hate to guess how many families we have now divided up, husbands, wives, and children. We used to be able to count on American citizens being allowed to live with their immediate family members until they achieved citizen status. Now we cannot. What can be more cruel and contemptible? This radical shift took place with the entry of the Bush administration and its initiation of criminal abuses post 9/11 which are now redounding terribly on the reputation of the U.S. as a democratic nation. Shame!
I would add a personal anecdote from the experience I had while assisting with the naturalization process for CUNY students. On one occasion we were able to tell a small boy that he was already an American citizen on the basis a parent's citizen status. He literally was transformed from a scared kid to a little guy jumping up and down with joy! Ed Kent]
........................................................
Dear All,
I apologize for duplications, just in case this has already been sent you. But the subject is urgent. Please put on your thinking caps and try to come up with possible ways to stop Israel's most recent method of ethnic cleansing. All suggestions most appreciated.
Thanks,
Dorothy
Human Rights
Dissecting Israel's freeze on visas
Rima Merriman, The Electronic Intifada, 13 September 2006
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article5728.shtml
_____
The problematic policy
Israel is implementing an undeclared policy of denying foreign nationals entry/re-entry into the OPTs in order to achieve the following political objectives: to isolate Palestinians, to continue its control over demographics in favor of the Jewish population, and to punish Palestinians personally and developmentally because of the January election results. Israel's security claims regarding this policy are false.
In many cases, this policy amounts to deportation. Many of those now being denied entry are, in fact, residents of the oPT (for family or work reasons). They had achieved this residency status legally (in some cases for decades on end) by relying on a system that Israel allowed in order to avoid giving out permanent or temporary residency status in the oPt. Such people are unable to apply for a permit to re-enter through the Israeli consulates in various countries.
Background
Up until June 2006, this system had allowed foreign nationals to enter on a three-month tourist visa. There were visa-denials then as well (the case of Jordanians has always been especially severe), but they were not applied as systematically as they are now to holders of non-Arab nationality passports. As the visa expiration date neared, such temporary visa holders resorted to exiting and re-entering the oPt, thus gaining an extension. When Israel started implementing this policy at the borders (the announcement in Ma'ariv that gave the first alert of this policy was on 22 June 2006), many of the people who had been following this system for years were caught unawares.
The process
Foreign nationals who are denied entry (whether they are coming in for the first time, or whether they are re-entering) are being told that they must get a permit. However, when they contact the Israeli consulates in their countries (in Jordan, it is also practically impossible simply to get into the Israeli consulate), people quickly discover that there is no such thing to be had. Nationals of various countries who have been denied entry have complained to the consulates of their countries in Israel, but these consulates, though sympathetic, have not been able to do anything.
Available avenues of relief at present
It is possible for foreign nationals working with an international organization registered with the Israeli Ministry of Social Affairs to obtain a B-type visa if the organization applies on their behalf two months in advance. It is possible for foreign nationals whose visas have not yet expired (i.e., who are residing in the oPt legally on some sort of visa) to apply for renewal "up to four times" through the Palestinian Ministry of Civil Affairs (the Ministry acts as the conduit of such applications to the Israeli authorities). But beyond that, there is no redress. Many spouses whose children, wives or husbands are now stranded outside the country have tried to get a permit through the Palestinian Ministry of Civil Affairs or the District Coordination Office or Beit El with no avail.
The numbers
In terms of numbers, the Campaign for the Right of Entry/Re-Entry in the oPt has documented dozens of cases, but this is just the tip of the iceberg. The campaign's contact person for documentation there is Anita Abdullah (anita@birzeit.edu). B'Tselem estimates that there are 16,000 foreign nationals living with their families "illegally" in the oPt, and are therefore restricted in their movements and travel. This figure gives a sense of the scope of the problem with regard to residency/family unification as it relates to those needing to achieve it in some legal way. B'Tselem also estimates that since the start of the Intifada in September 2000, the Israeli authorities have refused to process 120,000 family unification applications.
Impact and consequences
The policy of denying visas is closely related to family unification, because entering and re-entering on a temporary visa had been a mechanism by which people denied family unification through the limited and restricted procedures that Israel had been imposing could achieve it. In many cases, the spouse being denied entry is the primary bread winner in a family, and that person's job is in the oPt. So the economic burden is heavy.
Additionally, business people who need to reside in the oPt because of job or investment opportunities (as opposed to living with their families and also contributing to the economy) are being denied entry and the required residency.
The same goes for teachers, researchers and students at universities and schools.
In short, Palestinians are being deprived of foreign expertise of any kind unless it comes in an international aid package.
Rima Merriman is a Palestinian-American living in Ramallah in the occupied West Bank.
Related Links
ยท <http://electronicintifada.net/bytopic/443.shtml> BY TOPIC: Banning of internationals and foreign passport-holding Palestinians (25 June 2006)
--
"A war is just if there is no alternative, and the resort to arms is legitimate if they represent your last hope." (Livy cited by Machiavelli)
--
Ed Kent 718-951-5324 (voice mail only) [blind copies]
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Israel_Palestine
http://BlogByEdKent.blogspot.com/
http://www.bloggernews.net
I would add a personal anecdote from the experience I had while assisting with the naturalization process for CUNY students. On one occasion we were able to tell a small boy that he was already an American citizen on the basis a parent's citizen status. He literally was transformed from a scared kid to a little guy jumping up and down with joy! Ed Kent]
........................................................
Dear All,
I apologize for duplications, just in case this has already been sent you. But the subject is urgent. Please put on your thinking caps and try to come up with possible ways to stop Israel's most recent method of ethnic cleansing. All suggestions most appreciated.
Thanks,
Dorothy
Human Rights
Dissecting Israel's freeze on visas
Rima Merriman, The Electronic Intifada, 13 September 2006
_____
The problematic policy
Israel is implementing an undeclared policy of denying foreign nationals entry/re-entry into the OPTs in order to achieve the following political objectives: to isolate Palestinians, to continue its control over demographics in favor of the Jewish population, and to punish Palestinians personally and developmentally because of the January election results. Israel's security claims regarding this policy are false.
In many cases, this policy amounts to deportation. Many of those now being denied entry are, in fact, residents of the oPT (for family or work reasons). They had achieved this residency status legally (in some cases for decades on end) by relying on a system that Israel allowed in order to avoid giving out permanent or temporary residency status in the oPt. Such people are unable to apply for a permit to re-enter through the Israeli consulates in various countries.
Background
Up until June 2006, this system had allowed foreign nationals to enter on a three-month tourist visa. There were visa-denials then as well (the case of Jordanians has always been especially severe), but they were not applied as systematically as they are now to holders of non-Arab nationality passports. As the visa expiration date neared, such temporary visa holders resorted to exiting and re-entering the oPt, thus gaining an extension. When Israel started implementing this policy at the borders (the announcement in Ma'ariv that gave the first alert of this policy was on 22 June 2006), many of the people who had been following this system for years were caught unawares.
The process
Foreign nationals who are denied entry (whether they are coming in for the first time, or whether they are re-entering) are being told that they must get a permit. However, when they contact the Israeli consulates in their countries (in Jordan, it is also practically impossible simply to get into the Israeli consulate), people quickly discover that there is no such thing to be had. Nationals of various countries who have been denied entry have complained to the consulates of their countries in Israel, but these consulates, though sympathetic, have not been able to do anything.
Available avenues of relief at present
It is possible for foreign nationals working with an international organization registered with the Israeli Ministry of Social Affairs to obtain a B-type visa if the organization applies on their behalf two months in advance. It is possible for foreign nationals whose visas have not yet expired (i.e., who are residing in the oPt legally on some sort of visa) to apply for renewal "up to four times" through the Palestinian Ministry of Civil Affairs (the Ministry acts as the conduit of such applications to the Israeli authorities). But beyond that, there is no redress. Many spouses whose children, wives or husbands are now stranded outside the country have tried to get a permit through the Palestinian Ministry of Civil Affairs or the District Coordination Office or Beit El with no avail.
The numbers
In terms of numbers, the Campaign for the Right of Entry/Re-Entry in the oPt has documented dozens of cases, but this is just the tip of the iceberg. The campaign's contact person for documentation there is Anita Abdullah (anita@birzeit.edu). B'Tselem estimates that there are 16,000 foreign nationals living with their families "illegally" in the oPt, and are therefore restricted in their movements and travel. This figure gives a sense of the scope of the problem with regard to residency/family unification as it relates to those needing to achieve it in some legal way. B'Tselem also estimates that since the start of the Intifada in September 2000, the Israeli authorities have refused to process 120,000 family unification applications.
Impact and consequences
The policy of denying visas is closely related to family unification, because entering and re-entering on a temporary visa had been a mechanism by which people denied family unification through the limited and restricted procedures that Israel had been imposing could achieve it. In many cases, the spouse being denied entry is the primary bread winner in a family, and that person's job is in the oPt. So the economic burden is heavy.
Additionally, business people who need to reside in the oPt because of job or investment opportunities (as opposed to living with their families and also contributing to the economy) are being denied entry and the required residency.
The same goes for teachers, researchers and students at universities and schools.
In short, Palestinians are being deprived of foreign expertise of any kind unless it comes in an international aid package.
Rima Merriman is a Palestinian-American living in Ramallah in the occupied West Bank.
Related Links
ยท <http://electronicintifada.net/bytopic/443.shtml> BY TOPIC: Banning of internationals and foreign passport-holding Palestinians (25 June 2006)
--
"A war is just if there is no alternative, and the resort to arms is legitimate if they represent your last hope." (Livy cited by Machiavelli)
--
Ed Kent 718-951-5324 (voice mail only) [blind copies]
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Israel_Palestine
http://BlogByEdKent.blogspot.com/
http://www.bloggernews.net
posted by Ed Kent at 10:35 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home