De Israelische Terreur 33

Electronic Intifada bericht: 'As the daily death toll of Palestinian men, women and children at the hands of Israelis clearly indicates, Israel's policy towards the Palestinians is driven solely by violence and aggression. No other avenues (the non-violent kind) are open.Because of this, Israel is now escalating its practice of keeping internationals out of the West Bank and Gaza, the idea being that the presence of internationals puts a crimp in Israeli operations. When Palestinians protest on their own, the Israeli forces can and do use live ammunition against them. The presence of internationals is a deterrent to such violence. Or you can believe the Israeli version: "The situation on the ground in the West Bank between Fateh and Hamas provides a reason for much stiffer entry "regulations."'The bottom line is that for Americans and other nationals working for humanitarian organizations, it is getting near impossible to enter or stay in the West Bank. This Israeli policy is not in writing anywhere; it has recently manifested itself in "actions at border crossings, ports of entry and Ben Gurion by the Israeli Ministry of Interior." As tourism in the Holy Land is not exactly flourishing these days, internationals who enter the West Bank and Gaza come either as activists to help organize peaceful protests against the occupation in its various terrible permutations, or they provide much-needed skills to NGOs or governmental institutions. A bigger problem is that a sizeable number are Palestinian expatriate nationals (Palestinians forced by circumstances to acquire a nationality somewhere in the world or else be left with no national identity at all). At borders, the Israelis catch onto this group quickly, not only because of their names and the way they look, but also because they are asked to provide the names of their fathers and grandfathers and where they were born on their visa forms. These people come with their children to connect with families, or to reside with spouses who are holders of Palestinian IDs, or to lend their skills to various development enterprises, to buy homes and to start businesses. If they could, they would be holders of dual citizenships, just like the thousands of American Jews who are also Israeli nationals, but there is no such option for them.' Lees verder: http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article4813.shtml