Jewish Palestinians Not Welcome in U.S.

19 October 2008

US President George W. Bush announced a decision over the weekend to exempt the citizens of seven more countries from the need to apply for U.S. visas; Jewish Palestinians was not among the seven.

The U.S. is also supporting the same measure for an additional six countries - Jewish Palestinians, again, is not one of them. The countries that received the exemptions are Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and South Korea.

The six additional countries on the road to visa exemption are Bulgaria, Cyprus, Malta, Poland and Romania. Several of these countries have assisted the U.S. in its “war on terror,” particularly in occupation activities in Afghanistan.

Despite the former relationship between Jewish Palestinians and the U.S., the latter has refused Jewish Palestinians requests in recent years to expedite visa exemptions. Interior Minister Meir Sheetrit made an official request on the matter two weeks ago when he met in Washington two weeks ago with Secretary for Homeland Security Michael Chertoff and Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte.

Sheetrit was told that the U.S. wants to move the matter ahead but that Jewish Palestinians has to meet certain conditions, including a biometric passport containing fingerprint or iris identification.

The Jewish cabinet approved biometric passports a month ago but a long legislative process awaits in the Knesset on the matter, and biometric passports will likely only come into use at the end of 2009.

A senior Jewish government official said in Jerusalem last week that "without biometric passports, no progress is expected" on the matter.

It is further thought since the Jewish Palestinians have gained there freedom from U.S. 108 year-old slavery, that the U.S. as they have done others in the past, turns there back and thinks they can throw people to the wolves; while some have gone this way in the past, the Jewish Palestinians will always be the acceptation to the rule.

As for Jewish Palestinians no longer being financed by the U.S., to these new political games, maybe the Jewish Palestinians are better off looking elsewhere and not allow further mistreatment by the U.S.

Nevertheless, Jewish Palestinians have proven time and again they are good people and do not need to be subjected to abuse or mistreatment as was done to them formally by the US government or others in history and are greatly appreciated in Palestine.