Asking Israel to observe its treaty obligations

No American citizen should be subjected to the treatment that George Khoury and Habib Joudeh received when they arrived at Ben Gurion Airport in Israel last month.

George is a 70-year-old Palestinian American from San Francisco. Habib, 62, from Brooklyn, is also an American citizen of Palestinian descent.

During the third week of July, the two attempted to travel to Israel/Palestine. Both had been excited about their trips since neither had visited the area in more than two decades.

Habib and his sons were going to a family wedding in the West Bank. George is a deacon in the Archdiocese of San Francisco and was making a Holy Land pilgrimage with a priest friend. 

In the end, neither Habib nor George was able to complete the long-awaited visits.

On arrival in Israel (George landed on July 21, Habib and his sons on the 23rd), they were detained for long hours, subjected to abusive interrogations, insulted by Israeli security personnel, and finally denied entry and forced to purchase, at their own expense, return tickets to the US.

There are some differences in the treatment they received (George was held for more than a day, while Habib and his sons were detained for six hours), but there were significant common elements, the most disturbing being the reason they were denied entry.

Because both men were of Palestinian descent, the Israelis would not honour their US passports as travel documents or recognise that they were American citizens who did not want or seek Palestinian IDs. 

Both were told that they needed to acquire Palestinian IDs and that, as Palestinians, they could only enter through Jordan, via the King Hussein Bridge.

The reason stamped on Habib’s “deportation” order was “prevention of illegal immigration considerations”.

When the Israeli border control agent told George that, as a Palestinian, he could not enter Israel, he attempted to engage the agent saying: “I’m not coming through as a Palestinian. I’m coming as an American citizen.” 

To which the agent replied: “No, no, you belong with the Palestinian people. This is our Israel, this is for the Jews. No Palestinian should come to Israel. You should have gone through the Allenby Bridge.”

When George said “I am coming with an American passport and you should honour it,” the agent replied: “How do you want me to honour your American passport? Do you want me to kiss it, to hug it, or to worship it?”

What happened to Habib and George were not the actions of a few rogue agents. For more than three decades, we have recorded and submitted to the State Department hundreds of instances where Arab Americans, upon arrival at Ben Gurion Airport, were subjected to such treatment.

By so flagrantly disregarding the citizenship rights of Palestinian Americans, Israel is in violation of its treaty obligations found in the “1951 US-Israel Treaty of Friendship, Commerce, and Navigation”. 

In the language of the treaty, Israel pledges to permit US citizens the right to “travel freely, to reside at places of their choice, to enjoy liberty of conscience” and to guarantee them “the most constant protection and security”.

Israel consistently violated its treaty obligation and our government has failed to live up to its commitment to protect the rights of its own citizens.

The opening page of the US passport states that “The Secretary of State of the United States of America hereby requests all whom it may concern to permit the citizen/national of the United States named herein to pass without delay or hindrance and in case of need to give all lawful aid and protection.”

The Department of State says that it does not condone Israel’s behaviour, but in reality, it acquiesces.

For example, when George Khoury’s daughter wrote a letter of complaint to the US embassy in Tel Aviv, she received a response saying: “Unfortunately, the US government cannot assist US citizens in gaining entry into Israel.... Should your father wish to travel again in the future, we advise him to contact the nearest Israeli embassy or consulate for guidance.”

The US official then directed her to the Department of State “travel advisory” which states that “regardless of whether they hold US citizenship, Israeli authorities consider anyone who has parents or grandparents who were born or lived in the West Bank or Gaza to have a claim to a PA ID.”

They will, therefore, be treated as Palestinians and not as Americans.

Israel, it appears, has a peculiar view of American citizenship.

If one is Jewish, one is in a special class and can become an Israeli citizen. If one is an American of any non-Arab ethnicity, one is welcome to visit. But if one is an American of Arab descent and, in particular, of Palestinian descent, that person is not seen as an American and is not welcome.

It is upsetting that both the Department of State’s “travel advisory” and the consul’s letter acknowledge Israel’s disregard for our citizenship rights and claim to be powerless to hold them accountable for their actions.

This acquiescence allows Israel to act with impunity. It also makes our government appear to be complicit in Israel’s behaviour.

Last year, some members of Congress made a determined push to have Israel admitted into the US visa waiver programme. In response, the State Department noted that it could not support Israel’s admittance because of its long-standing practice of discriminating against Americans of Arab descent, in particular Palestinian Americans.

This was the right move, but it is clearly not enough.

I urge Secretary of State John Kerry to insist that the Israeli government fully live up to its treaty obligations to treat all Americans equally, irrespective of their religion or national origin.

Should the Department of State fail to act, I urge Attorney General Lynch to determine whether by its acquiescence, the State Department is guilty of failing to provide Arab Americans equal protection under the law.