This Travel Warning is being issued to update information on the
general security environment in Israel, Jerusalem, the West Bank, and
the Gaza Strip, and to reiterate threats to foreign nationals,
especially American citizens. Although the situation in Israel is
seemingly calm, the fact of the matter remains that Israel continues to
aggressively violate International Humanitarian and Human Rights Laws
daily. A disconcerting development is the Israeli practice of denying
entry of Palestinian Christians and Muslims to the Holy Land; embodying
religious discrimination during the high holy season. As Palestinians,
we have always looked forward to your being with us during Christmas,
Easter and other holiday feasts. In the past, it has been a time to
welcome you into our land, our churches, our mosques, and our homes,
despite the troubled times we have witnessed throughout the decades.
In order to visit any of the Holy sites you must pass through an
Israeli-controlled point of entry (airport or bridge), since Israel
controls all access to the Israeli occupied Palestinian territory,
where Bethlehem and Jerusalem, the Church of the Nativity and Holy
Sepulcher are located. Since March of this year, an extraordinary
number of foreigners have been denied entry through Israeli ports. Many
of these foreign nationals have been turned away at the airport or
bridges and sent back to their country of residence or to Jordan. The
Israeli authorities seldom give a reason for barring foreign tourists,
so people find themselves spending money to fly into the Israeli
airport or come to the Israeli-controlled border crossings not knowing
that they may be turned away without having the opportunity to visit
the Holy Land or visit their friends and families.
If this Israeli policy is allowed to continue it can literally empty
Palestine of another half a million Palestinians. Given that four
decades of Israeli occupation have already successfully reduced the
Christian population in Bethlehem from 15% to less than 2%, it becomes
clear that Israel's goal is to reduce the entire Palestinian
population to insignificant numbers.
We would like to welcome you to Bethlehem in occupied Palestine this
Christmas season. However, to avoid spending money unnecessarily and
facing a humiliating experience, we recommend that you call the Israeli
Embassy or Consulate nearest you before embarking on your trip this
Christmas season. Please ask the Embassy or Consulate if you will be
able to pass through the airport or via one of the bridges from Jordan
in order to reach Bethlehem, particularly given the fact that thousands
who are trying to reach the Israeli occupied Palestinian territory are
being turned back.
While speaking to the Israeli Embassy officials, confirm that
Palestinians - Muslims and Christians - have not been allowed to
worship in their holy places for many years. In fact, no Palestinians
from the West Bank and Gaza have been allowed to enter Jerusalem
without Israeli military permission since 1993 and very few are granted
permits to enter Jerusalem, whether for worship during Lent, Advent or
Ramadan.
The building of the illegal Israeli Separation Wall (which is mostly
built on Palestinian lands acquired by force 1967) has made it even
more difficult for Palestinians and internationals to travel to
Jerusalem and Bethlehem. The Separation Wall has not been built for
security reasons, but rather to separate people from one another, from
their livelihood, from their places of worship, and from their future.
Walls do not create the conditions for peace with justice.
Historically, walls separate and divide and bring widespread despair,
which we are witnessing now.
Although the U.S. State Department's Travel Advisory for this same
area "urges U.S. citizens to defer travel to the West Bank and to
avoid all travel to the Gaza Strip," we would ask that you rather not
despair and actively attempt to join us in Bethlehem and Jerusalem this
Christmas.
If we acknowledge the international community's concurrence to allow
Israel to get away with denying the world's citizens the right to
worship and blatant, daily violations of human rights, then we would
all be accomplices to the war crimes being committed against
Palestinians.
Thus, we hope to see you all this Christmas season. Please contact us
when you are here so we visit and worship with you. You may contact us
either via email at info@righttoenter.ps or mobile at 059-817-3953.
If you cannot be with us, then please keep Bethlehem, Jerusalem and
Palestinians in your prayers and actions this holiday season.
Campaign for the Right of Entry/Re- Entry to the Occupied Palestinian
Territory(oPt)
Media Contact:
Mr. Basil Ayish
Coordinator, Media Committee
(c) +970-(0)59-817-3953
(e)i...@righttoenter.ps
(w) www.righttoenter.ps
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