ADC Press Release:
Israel Refuses to Allow Arab Americans to Come Home
Washington, D.C., June 5 - On June 4 over 40 American citizens of Palestinian
origin were denied the right to leave Israel and return home to the United
States. The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) has learned
that Israeli security officials are canceling all exit visas of U.S. citizens of
Palestinian origin, and are thus keeping them in Israel against their will.
ADC President Hala Maksoud called on the State Department and the rest of the
Administration to intervene immediately with Israel to stop this abuse and
insist that all Americans are treated equally by Israel regardless of their
ethnicity. She said that “this blatant abuse of Arab Americans, holding
them in Israel against their will and in spite of advice from our government
that Americans avoid being in that country, cannot be tolerated. To allow
Israel to extend its systematic discrimination against Arabs and modes of
collective punishment to Arab Americans, especially given the massive aid which
the American tax payers provide that country is an intolerable outrage.”
These scores of Arab Americans were turned back upon their arrival to Ben
Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv as they were attempting to leave Israel
and return home to the United States in accordance with a recent U.S.
Travel Advisory. The Advisory states that, “The Department of State
warns U.S. citizens to defer travel to Israel, the West Bank and Gaza. The
U.S. Government has indications that there is a heightened threat of terrorist
incidents in Israel, the West Bank and Gaza. In light of several recent
terrorist bombings in Israel and continuing violence in Gaza and the West Bank,
American citizens should exercise extreme caution.” The
Israeli practice of discriminating against Arab Americans because of their
ethnicity is contrary to international law. It also violates Israeli
law, specifically Article 6(a) of the Basic Law: Human Dignity and Liberty,
which states, "every person is free to get out of Israel."
For several months ADC has been raising concerns with Secretary of State Colin
Powell and the State Department about Israel's racist treatment of American
citizens of Arab origin. Numerous cases have come to light since the
outbreak of the Palestinian uprising of Arab Americans being denied use of their
U.S. passports and forced to obtain Palestinian travel documents in order to
leave Israel and the Palestinian territories it occupies. However, the
extremely large number of reports ADC received regarding this abuse of
Arab Americans by Israel on June 4 suggests that such discrimination is becoming
systematic and pervasive.
ADC is the largest Arab-American
grassroots organization in the United States. It was founded in 1980 by former
Senator James Abourezk.
Palestine Affairs Council