Israel’s new entry procedures for Palestinian Americans are meaningless if the occupation remains

The Biden administration seems insistent on pushing Israel into the visa waiver program, but it is useless unless Palestinians are granted the freedom of movement.

“Where is Ahmad?”

The soldier called for my name while we were stopped at the last illegal checkpoint on the way from Ramallah to Jerusalem. I am a Palestinian American who holds both a Palestinian and American passport; however, once in Palestine, I am no longer recognized as an American. That soldier proceeded to kick me off the bus as I attempted to make my pilgrimage to Jerusalem. I was only in Palestine for three weeks, but the approval process to visit Jerusalem was backlogged for months. The fact that I, as a Palestinian born in Palestine, still need “approval” from an occupying force to visit my own land while European settlers venture there every day is not lost on me. 

Last month, Israel loosened its entry procedures for Palestinian Americans in an attempt to join the U.S. Visa Waiver program. By September 30, the results of their trial and subsequent treatment of Palestinian Americans traveling through Israel will be used to determine whether Israeli nationals can visit the U.S. visa-free. Palestinian Americans who were previously seen as a “security threat” and barred from flying into Tel Aviv will now be able to fly into the airport. This begs the question, were they ever a security threat? Or was this Israel’s attempt to make it more difficult for Palestinians wanting to see their ancestral homeland? 

Before this Israeli pilot program, the entry process for Palestinian dual nationals entailed the difficult journey from Amman to the Al-Karameh Bridge. After the Israeli military destroyed all Palestinian airports, this was the only way to enter – through hours of checkpoints at which any time they can deny you entry for no reason. As part of the trial, however, Palestinian Americans can now fly into Ben-Gurion Airport on a B2 visa. However, they will still be unable to visit restricted areas of Israel – everything outside the West Bank that has been illegally occupied since 1948.

U.S. President Joe Biden seems insistent on pushing Israel into the visa waiver program, and his administration should and will require Israel to offer equal entry for all U.S. citizens. However, it does not require Israel to allow dual Palestinian nationals freedom of movement once inside occupied Palestine this policy is nearly meaningless. If the U.S wants to ensure equality for all its Palestinian American citizens in occupied Palestine, it must ensure the equal right to free movement, which is all but absent in the West Bank, Gaza, and ancestral Palestine. 

Our internationally recognized right to free movement is constrained daily through hundreds of illegal checkpoints established since 1967. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights codifies this right to free movement, specifically Article 13. These checkpoints and military posts suffocate Palestinians, stripping that fundamental right and restricting access to Palestinian cities on their whim. These checkpoints are meant to dehumanize and disconnect the Palestinians from their land while also “protecting” the illegal settlers colonizing their land. Since the 1967 war, over 600 armed checkpoints have been built, separating Palestinian cities from one another and from settlements. In addition, Palestinians are forced to have different license plates and IDs, can only travel on certain roads, and can be denied entry through checkpoints for no reason; often, this leads to Palestinians being unable to work, unable to reach sick loved ones, and unable to access their right to movement. During the recent invasion of Jenin, checkpoints across Palestine were closed for two days: those of us in Nablus or Ramallah were physically trapped in our cities, unable to leave as Israeli soldiers would not allow any movement. Palestinian Americans across Palestine were in danger of settler attacks because the occupation chose when to trap, starve, and suffocate Palestinians.

Palestinian Americans in Bethlehem live alongside the Apartheid Wall, a constant reminder of the segregation and ethnic cleansing they face because they are from the “wrong” side. Palestinian Americans attempting to visit Jerusalem are restricted from certain areas and unable to attend their place of worship at the discretion of the Israeli military. A common practice of Israeli forces is to make Palestinian Americans recite scripture from the Quran before being allowed entry at the Aqsa Mosque. And for Palestinian Americans visiting home in Al-Khalil (Hebron), there are 18 permanent checkpoints staffed by funneling lines of barbed wired cages and AI-powered semi-automatic weapons. 

All of this makes me wonder what good it does for those of us who hold both a Palestinian and U.S. passport to enter Tel Aviv? What good is it if I can fly into Ben-Gurion Airport but cannot visit family across Palestine without breaking Israeli law? Why enter Tel Aviv if I will also be interrogated for hours as a possible “security threat”?

Those like myself might be allowed to enter Israel’s airport, but we still cannot travel freely in our home. We cannot see the waters of Haifa, we cannot see the Church of Nativity or the Al Aqsa Mosque, and we cannot taste the oranges of Jaffa without facing imprisonment for being in occupied Palestine “illegally,” as if I could be illegal on land that my ancestors farmed for generations before the creation of Israel.