ISRAEL AND THE OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES/PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY: Israel denies entry to Amnesty International staff member

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7 Nov 2017
[International Secretariat]
Region: ISRAEL AND THE OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES/PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY
Topic:

Israel’s decision to deny an Amnesty International USA staff member entry to the occupied West Bank, apparently as retaliation against the organization’s human rights work, is a dangerous indication of the Israeli authorities’ growing intolerance of critical voices, the organization said today.

Raed Jarrar, Advocacy Director for the Middle East and North Africa at Amnesty International USA, was stopped at the Allenby/King Hussein crossing between Jordan and the Israeli-occupied West Bank yesterday, while he was on a personal trip to visit family in Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT) following the recent death of his father. He was interrogated by Israeli officials about the reasons for his visit, his family in the OPT, his work with Amnesty International and in particular the organization’s work denouncing Israeli settlements in the West Bank, before being denied entry and returned back to Jordan. Amnesty International will be seeking official clarification from the Israeli authorities about why he was refused entry.

“This bar from entry suggest that this move was taken in retaliation for the organization’s work on human rights violations in the OPT.

During his questioning, the officials referred to the organization’s work on the “West Bank settlements” – an recent campaign calling on states to ban imports of Israeli settlement products.

After his interrogation, Raed Jarrar was given a document confirming that he was denied entry under Israel’s Entry to Israel Law citing “public security” or “public order” considerations and the “prevention of illegal immigration” as reasons.

“Refusing entry to a human rights advocate because they work for an organization that has criticized human rights violations by Israel would constitute a blatant assault on freedom of expression,” said Philip Luther.

31 October 2017
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL PRESS RELEASE

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