Tag: Denial of Entry

Call For an Immediate end to Israel’s Discriminatory Visa-freeze Policy


Credit: Maureen Clare Murphy

More than 70 journalists, activists, and members of the diplomatic corps met on September 6th at the Ambassador Hotel in Jerusalem for a press conference regarding the Campaign for the Right of Entry/Re-Entry to the occupied Palestinian territory.

The event was organized in conjunction with the Israeli-Palestine Center for Research and Information (IPCRI). The purpose of the press conference was to engage Israeli officials on the issue in the presence of foreign representatives. No Israeli government representatives, however, were present. A US consulate spokesperson emphasized that the consulate was aware of the visa freeze policy and that the issue was being raised at the highest levels.

The Committee for the Protection of Foreign Passport Holders Residing in and/or Visiting the Occupied Palestinian Territory (CPFPH), launched in June 2006, has stepped up its campaign against the Israeli Occupation authorities’ policy of denying entry to residents of and visitors to the OPT (Gaza Strip and West Bank) who do not hold a Palestinian ID issued by the Israeli Interior Ministry. A Palestinian ID is a personal identification document issued by Israel for Palestinian residents and their children.

IPCRI co-director Gershon Baskin and campaign activist Sam Bahour highlighted the current Israeli “visa-freeze policy”, which is being widely applied at the Israeli controlled border crossings to the occupied territory. “This is one of the more blatantly unjust and blatantly stupid things the government of Israel has ever done,” said Baskin.

Since the start of the Al Aqsa Intifada in September of 2000, Israel has stopped accepting Palestinian applications for family reunification in the West Bank and Gaza as one method of controlling Palestinian demographics. According to B’Tselem, Israel has practiced this method of control on and off since 1967 and now has a back-log of at least 120,000 applications it is refusing to process. Israel, not the Palestinian Authority, is and has always been in control of the Palestinian population registry.

Antigona Shkar of B’Tselem presented findings and individual video testimonies from a joint B’tselem-HaMoked report, published in August, entitled “Perpetual Limbo: Israel’s Freeze on Unification of Palestinian Families in the Occupied Territories.”

Prominent Palestinian businessman Zahi Khouri (chairman of the National Beverage Company) spoke of the ramifications of the freeze policy on the Palestinian business community and called on foreign missions to press Israel to end its closed door policy.

Campaign for the Right of Entry/Re-Entry to the oPt representative Basil Ayish called for action targeted at foreign representative offices as well as the Israeli government. “We declare our insistence on the most basic human rights,” he said. “We demand that Israel immediately stop separating Palestinian families; we demand that Israel stop discriminating against those wishing to enter Israeli-occupied territory, and we expect embassies to protect and defend their citizen’s rights to travel freely through Israeli ports.”

For a comprehensive report on the meeting, go to http://www.ipcri.org.

Contact Person: Rima Merriman, Campaign for the Right of Entry/Re-Entry to the OPTs. Telephone Number: ++972 0599 274 758

The campaign has just brought out a factsheet and a call to action flyer, both for popular distribution in English.

The campaign’s forthcoming site can be accessed at: http://www.RightToEnter.ps

On Wednesday 6th September Sam Bahour gave a radio interview on the ethnic transfer of Palestinians out of Palestine. In a poignant testimony to this escalation of Israeli policy Sam Bahour’s aunt and uncle were denied entry at the Allenby Bridge yesterday. They left their home in El- Bireh/Ramallah, where they had been visiting for about 3 months from the US, to go to Amman for two days for some business. Upon attempting to re-enter, they were both “denied entry” and told to get a permit from the Israeli military in order to be able to enter. Of course, the soldier forgot to tell them that the process to get a permit does not work. This case is an addition to the growing list of thousands of Palestinians who are denied entry to their homeland to further the Israeli policy of transfer.

Electronic Intifada has an extremely comprehensive index of report on this topic, which can be accessed on their site.

Maria Nikiforou Was Illegaly Deported

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

On 24th July 2006, Maria Nikiforou was forcibly sent back to Greece from Tel Aviv airport, despite the decision of the appeal court.

The judge had intialy issued a stay on her deportation order. After reviewing secret evidence provided by the Israeli “General Security Services” (Shabak/Shin Beit), he then reversed his previous decision without explanation. Upon hearing of the reversal, Maria’s lawyer Leah Tsemel immediately filed an appeal. The appeal judge then granted an indefinate stay of deportation. When Tsemel came to see her client on July 26th, she was stunned to find that she had been deported anyway, against the orders of the appeal court.

The right to a fair trial is guaranteed by international law. Israel’s use of secret evidence in cases involving Palestinian and international activists contravenes international legal standards. In the name of ‘security’, Israel regularly imprisons and deports Palestinian and international activists without a fair hearing, on the basis of ‘secret evidence’ provided by the Shabak, which the defense does not get a chance to review.

Contacts:
Leah Tsemel +972 2 627 3373
ISM Media office +972 2 297 1824

Israel Declares Greek Human Rights Worker a Security Threat

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Today, July 22nd, an Israeli judge decided today in administrative court to deport Maria Nikiforou, a 34 year old human rights worker, without a hearing. The security has informed Maria that they will put her on the next available flight, tomorrow morning to Olympia, Greece. Maria’s case is indicative of a pattern by the Israeli government of preventing international human rights workers from aiding the Palestinian people, and denying international activists the right to due process in court.

Maria’s lawyers, Leah Tsemel and Yoni Lerman, filed an appeal against her denial of entry, but the judge has refused to examine it. Instead he is complying with the charges, claiming that Maria is a threat to the state of Israel, a charge backed by completely secret evidence.

Maria was denied entry into Israel on Friday July 14th and has been in detention, mostly in isolated confinement, since her arrival as she awaits her hearing. The Israeli authorities claimed that she is denied entry because she is a “security threat to the state of Israel,” and that she is a part of the International Solidarity Movement (ISM), which they called an “illegal organization.” In fact, the Israeli courts have ruled that being a member of ISM is not reason enough to deport foreign nationals, and that the group has never been deemed illegal. ISM is a Palestinian-led, non-violent resistance movement that works to support local Palestinians in their non-violent struggle against the occupation.

The state of Israel has made public its intentions to increase the denial of entry to international human rights workers, as well as Palestinians with foreign passports. Many fear that the complete closure and isolation of the Gaza Strip will be replicated in the West Bank.

Paul Larudee, a 60 year-old piano tuner from California, was denied entry last month based entirely on secret evidence provided by the Israeli General Security Service. Secret evidence is expected to form the basis of evidence against Maria also. This sort of procedure is common in the Israeli military-legal system, through which thousands of Palestinians have been sentenced to renewable periods of “administrative detention,” based on secret charges that are in turn based on secret evidence.

It is inevitable that democratic values in the Israeli legal system, such as an individual’s right to defend themselves in court have been eroded. The Israeli civil court system cannot respect human rights as long as there is a parallel military legal system in which the human rights of Palestinians are disregarded.

Over 15,000 people have been denied entry into Israel in the last five years. Some examples from May 2006 include: Kate Maynard, a UK Human Rights Lawyer; Raeed Tayeh, a Palestinian American former public affairs director for the Muslim American Society; and Enayeh Adel Samara, a US citizen who is married to a Palestinian, owns a business in Ramallah and has two children who were born in Jerusalem.

For more information:
Maria Nikiforou 054 214 3752
ISM media office 02 297 1824

Greek Activist Celebrates Birthday in Detention


Maria Nikiforou with a child from Bil’in in 2005

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Today, July 18, 2006, Maria Nikiforou will celebrate her thirty-fourth birthday in isolation in the Ben Gurion detention center. Israeli security put Maria in isolated detention on July 14th and is denying her entry, saying that she is a security threat to Israel. Yesterday the authorities took away her cell phone, even though it is allowed for detainees to have their cell phones in this facility.

She is the second international in the last two months to have been denied entry to Israel because of their affiliations with the International Solidarity Movement (ISM). The ISM is a Palestinian-led movement supporting non-violent resistance to the occupation and Apartheid Wall. Their activities include demonstrations, accompanying Palestinian farmers to their land, and documentation of human rights abuses.

Maria’s lawyers filed an appeal on her behalf, and the state has responded saying that the reason she is denied entry is because she is a member of ISM, and didn’t state that upon entry to the airport. The judge is expected to set a court date within the next few days.
Israel continues to control all the border crossings in and out of the West Bank, as well as the border crossings used by internationals to travel in and out of Gaza. Israel has denied entry to thousands of peace activists in the past three years and completely denies foreign nationals the right to visit Gaza, except those with permits that are very difficult to obtain.

Israel has also begun a new policy of barring Palestinians carrying foreign passports, including those married to a Palestinian spouse, from re-entering the West Bank and Gaza. The new measures also affect long-time foreign residents in the West Bank such as college professors, NGO employees, religious figures and naturalized spouses of Palestinian residents in the West Bank.

For more information:
ISM media office 02 297 1824