US visa waiver bill stymied over Arab Americans entering Israel

[PalestineMyHeart 1,897]

U.S. visa waiver bill stymied over Arab Americans entering Israel

The legislative effort being pushed by AIPAC would allow visa-free entry for Israelis, but the government is unable or unwilling to reciprocate, insisting on the right to refuse entry to certain U.S. citizens due to security concerns.

A legislative effort led by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee to enable Israelis to enter the United States without visas may be stymied by the government – Israel’s government.

The hitch is Israel’s inability or unwillingness to fully reciprocate, something required for visa-free travel to the United States. Israel, citing security concerns, insists on the right to refuse entry to some U.S. citizens.

AIPAC is pushing for an exemption for Israel from this rule. But congressional staffers say Israel is unlikely to get such an exemption, which U.S. lawmakers view as an attempt to bar Arab Americans from freely entering Israel.

“It’s stunning that you would give a green light to another country to violate the civil liberties of Americans traveling abroad,” said a staffer for one leading pro-Israel lawmaker in the U.S. House of Representatives.

The exemption AIPAC is pushing for appears in the Senate version of the U.S.-Israel Strategic Partnership Act, one of the key issues for which AIPAC urged supporters to lobby after its policy conference last month.

The language in that bill, proposed by Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), requires that the Homeland Security secretary grant Israel visa waiver status after certifying with the secretary of state that Israel “has made every reasonable effort, without jeopardizing the security of the State of Israel, to ensure that reciprocal travel privileges are extended to all United States citizens.”

House staffers say that lawmakers, pro-Israel leaders among them, have raised objections to the clause, “without jeopardizing the security of the State of Israel,” because it appears to validate what they see as Israel’s tendency to turn away Arab Americans without giving a reason.

None of the other 37 countries currently in the visa-free program has such a caveat written into law.

Israel’s government has made clear that it likely would not join the visa waiver program without such language in the law, JTA has learned. Israeli officials told JTA that U.S. citizens already are free to travel to Israel and that there is no need for holders of American passports to obtain a tourist visa before traveling.

But there have been numerous reports in recent years that Israel routinely turns away or makes difficult the entry of Americans with Muslim and Arab names, often without explaining why. The State Department, in its Israel travel advisory, warns that “U.S. citizens whom Israeli authorities suspect of being of Arab, Middle Eastern, or Muslim origin” may be denied “entry or exit without explanation.”

James Zogby, the president of the Arab American Institute, which has lobbied against the Senate language, said passage of such a law would codify discriminatory treatment.

“It is ratifying Israel's position of creating two classes of citizen,” said Zogby, who said he has been subject to long waits when entering Israel.

One recent case that made headlines was that of Nour Joudah, a Palestinian American who was teaching at the Friends School in Ramallah. Joudah, who had traveled to Jordan for Christmas, was denied reentry to Israel although she had a one-year multiple entry visa, and despite the fact that the Israeli Embassy in Washington had advocated for her reentry.

The Ramallah school receives U.S. funding, promotes non-violence and teaches about the Holocaust, noted a congressional staffer. “This is the model of coexistence,” the staffer said.

Shin Bet, Israel’s internal security service, told Haaretz earlier this year that Joudah had not cooperated during security questioning. Joudah told Haaretz that the encounter with Israeli security at times had been argumentative but said she answered all questions.

Critics of Israel’s entry practices say authorities appear to turn away Americans for political, not security reasons. Joudah told Haaretz that Israeli security officials had asked her about her published writings. While in Ramallah, she had blogged for Electronic Intifada, an anti-Zionist website. In one post, she sharply criticized Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas for intimating that it was time to relinquish a Palestinian “right of return” to Israel.

Pro-Israel insiders said it’s still too early to tell how this bill will fare in Congress.

The House version of the same bill, initiated by Reps. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.) and Ted Deutch (D-Fla.), stops short of an exemption, asking only for reports from the secretary of state on what steps Israel has taken to comply with inclusion in the visa waiver program.

The exemption language in the Senate version is borrowed from a separate stand-alone House bill initiated by Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Calif.), called the Visa Waiver for Israel Act.

It’s not clear whether the Senate language or the House language will prevail as the bills progress through committees and then into conference. Spokespeople for Boxer and AIPAC declined to comment.

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http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/u-s-visa-waiver-bill-stymied-over-arab-americans-entering-israel-1.515227

[himher 634]

Americans are Americans, regardless of the current belief over there that they are fodder for their bulldozers. Reciprocity has been our policy for all countries. If the bill gets held up so be it.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

Americans are Americans, regardless of the current belief over there that they are fodder for their bulldozers. Reciprocity has been our policy for all countries. If the bill gets held up so be it.

Hell's freezing over. I found something I agree with you on.

[The Nature Boy 4,224]

Hell's freezing over. I found something I agree with you on.

I told you therapy is working, you are on the path to rational thinking.. The world is changing. Hell I might just plunk down the cash for the hooked on phonics DVD

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

I told you therapy is working, you are on the path to rational thinking.. The world is changing. Hell I might just plunk down the cash for the hooked on phonics DVD

Spare me that bull, would ya?

[himher 634]

I told you therapy is working, you are on the path to rational thinking.. The world is changing. Hell I might just plunk down the cash for the hooked on phonics DVD

Everything you post is phonetically (no I dont know how to spell that) correct

[PalestineMyHeart 1,897]

Americans are Americans, regardless of the current belief over there that they are fodder for their bulldozers. Reciprocity has been our policy for all countries. If the bill gets held up so be it.

It's sheer arrogance - in effect, Israel wants visa-free travel for Israelis to come to the US, while Americans are still required to get a visa to go to Israel.

And it's not only Arab-Americans they want to discriminate against - Israel has on many occasions barred non-Palestinian, non-Arab and non-Muslim Americans, simply because they suspect them of supporting justice for Palestine - which Israel also calls "a security threat."

It's a clear attempt to make Israel's institutionalized discrimination and apartheid policies a part of the US legal code. The fact that AIPAC is pushing so hard for this is just one more example of why it should be forced to register as a foreign agent, because it has nothing in common with American values.

And these bought-and-paid-for collaborators backing it in Congress are traitors.

[OriZ 3,157]

Actually, Americans do not need a visa to go to Israel. Any American who wants to go to Israel can land in Ben-Gurion airport and in most cases get a 3 month permit to start with, Whereas Israelis need to apply for a Visa ahead of time.

[PalestineMyHeart 1,897]

Actually, Americans do not need a visa to go to Israel. Any American who wants to go to Israel can land in Ben-Gurion airport and in most cases get a 3 month permit to start with, Whereas Israelis need to apply for a Visa ahead of time.

That's a 3-month VISA.

[The Nature Boy 4,224]

Everything you post is phonetically (no I dont know how to spell that) correct

I pride myself on my articulate typing skills and my almost fanatical use of spelling and punctuation