January/February 2007 Postcard

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DEAR SENATOR:

PLEASE HELP U.S. CITIZENS in Israel and Palestine who are facing a “silent transfer.” The U.S. government estimates that there are about 35,000 Palestinian Americans living in the West Bank at any one time, and an additional 10,000 Palestinians with other foreign passports. They now face deportation.

Under new Israeli security measures, tourist visas no longer are being issued to Palestinians holding foreign passports. The new policy also affects Westerners and other foreigners working or volunteering in the West Bank and Gaza.

By blocking non-Jewish American citizens from living in Israel and the occupied territories, Israel is dividing families and undermining coexistence programs, as well as the right of thousands of children to live with both their parents. The new policy also prevents Americans from doing business in the occupied territory. As a result, the lives of thousands of U.S. citizens have been thrown into limbo, and soon there will be no one left to witness or report on human rights abuses.

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American citizen and human rights worker Maureen Clare Murphy’s passport bears Israel’s dreaded red “no entry” stamp. (Courtesy Electronic Intifadah).

ISRAEL WON’T LET 11-year-old Laila Nofal’s mother, Wujoud, an American citizen, live with her family in the West Bank. After living in the United States for 10 years, the Nofals and their seven children have U.S. citizenship. In 2002, they decided to raise their family in the village where Laila’s dad, Nofal Nofal, was born. In order to stay in occupied Palestine, Laila’s mother, who was born to Palestinian parents in Jordan, had to leave home every three months to renew her tourist visa. In August, when the family returned from summer vacation in the U.S., Israel refused to allow Wujoud to enter Palestine. Marooned in Jordan, she and her infant son have tried to go home five times. Israel has placed a large red (misspelled) “Entry Denied” stamp in her passport.