I am furious to learn that Israeli settlers resident illegally in the occupied territories are allowed visa free entry to the UK, whereas Palestinians living legally in those territories require a visa (and won’t usually get one).
From Hansard
Asked by Lord Warner
To ask Her Majesty’s Government why Palestinians from the Occupied Palestinian Territories require a visa before travelling to the United Kingdom, but Israeli citizens living in the Occupied Palestinian Territories do not require a visa to come to the United Kingdom for six months or less.[HL59]
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what consideration has been given to changing immigration rules to restrict access to the United Kingdom by all Israeli citizens who live in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.[HL60]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Home Office (Lord Taylor of Holbeach):
Visa regimes are based on nationality, not place of residence. Palestinians are required to obtain a visa before travelling to the United Kingdom. Israeli citizens, regardless of where they reside, are able to visit the United Kingdom visa free for up to six months.
No consideration has been given to changing the Immigration Rules to restrict access to the United Kingdom by Israeli citizens who live in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Visa regimes are kept under regular review.
In immigration cases, evidence of continuing engagement in illegal activity should normally lead to denial of entry to the UK. That is the supposed general policy. The Israeli settlements are illegal under international law, a fact not in serious dispute even by arch-Zionists Hague and May. On top of which, Israeli settlers should be denied entry because they have demonstrated a clear propensity to settle where it is illegal for them to settle. That plainly gives reasonable grounds to suppose that they will not leave the UK at then end of their visa validity.
90% of West Bank Palestinians refused a visa, are refused on the grounds that they may seek to remain and live illegally in the UK – despite the fact they have never lived illegally anywhere. Illegal Israeli settlers, on the other hand, can waltz into the UK without a visa.
It is hard to imagine a more stark double standard and abuse of power.
22-5-2013
Save Legal Aid – Justice for Sale – Mass Rally and Demonstration.
Presented by: Clive Stafford Smith, Gerry Conlan (Guildford 4), Family Member of Jean Charles De Menzes, Dave Rowntree and Breda Power (daughter of Billy Power of Birmingham 6)
http://www.lccsa.org.uk/assets/documents/misc/lccsa_flyer_a4.pdf
Good research, Doug — thank you!
Wow, I was surprised. Mexicans don’t even need a visa for up to 6 months in the UK. Is there a large Palestinian population in the UK?
UK citizen had wonderful holiday in Israel –
http://electronicintifada.net/content/israel-denied-me-entry-basis-my-skin-color-and-religion/11536
. . .
Israeli citizens are is entitled to VIP treatment because they are special and Palestinians are not. What makes them special? No other ‘people’, we are often reminded, has ever suffered so much for so long. The moral calculus implied by this idea is puzzling.
When I was growing up, I watched a lot of war movies on TV. WWII was all about handsome, muscular Americans saving Europe by fighting Germans with nothing more than pissy M1 carbines, a cheeky disregard for authority and a love of chewing gum and beautiful girls. Ten years later, WWII was all about cheerless Nazis gassing and incinerating seven million Jews. The transformation went almost unnoticed.
Today, we accept Israel flouting all sorts of laws and standards of decency because we are made to feel guilty for OUR repeated moral failures that resulted in THEIR aggregated history of suffering. The collective guilt trip, supported by a culture of thought-terminating political correctness, ensures that criticism of Israel and diasporic activities is mostly squelched in the mainstream media and public discussions. However, as things get worse for the Palestinians, and as it slowly dawns on people that Israel is actually implementing its own one-state, apartheid solution, the tide is starting to turn.
(Three cheers for Prof. Stephen Hawking.)
To quote David Cameron “There is something deep in our Party’s DNA that believes in Israel”. Its easy to understand why.
http://website.thejc.com/home.aspx?AId=46698&ATypeId=1&search=true2&srchstr=+%2B%22big+jewish+backers%2B%22&srchtxt=0&srchhead=1&srchauthor=0&srchsandp=0&scsrch=0
The reason for letting some nationalities in without a visa, but not others, is purely economic. Basically First world citizens are allowed, Third world not. So we need to ask: who is responsible for Palestinians being poor? At present it is easy enough to blame the Israelis. No doubt they would reply that the situation is due to terrorism. However I would say that creating a prosperous Palestinian community is essential for Israel’s security, because terrorism usually feeds on grievance.
Another reason to be careful about granting entry to Israelis is their history of assassinations. Sometimes using British passports. The UK actually changed it’s domestic law to allow Israeli war criminals to enter without fear of arrest. That’s how perverted the UK-Israel relationship is. All small beer of course compared to the body bags that came back from Iraq, British soldiers dying and killing for “world” (Israeli) security. All thanks to Friends of Israel in the UK.
Don’t forget that Palestinians also need permission from the Zionists to travel outside of the Occupied Territories, which have been deprived of an international airport since 2000, when the one in Gaza got destroyed by Zionist bombers.
Have a look at the British Foreign Office advice to UK citizens travelling to “Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories”. It could have been written by Israeli propagandists. The Brits are obviously too scared to say anything the Israelis don’t like.
1) “The FCO advise against all travel to Gaza. There remains a risk of rocket attacks from Gaza into Israel and Israeli air strikes on Gaza.”
Note the dishonesty with which they prioritise mentioning “rocket attacks from Gaza”. Note the irregular verb too: Arabs “attack”; Jews “strike”.
2) “Don’t attempt to enter Gaza by sea, breaching the restrictions imposed by the Israeli navy. The FCO advise against participating in flotillas or overland convoys to Gaza because of the risks involved.”
“The risks involved” aren’t specified. They mean, of course, the risk of illegal acts of war committed by the Zionists against unarmed civilian vessels on the high seas, or unarmed civilians elsewhere.
3) “Be extra vigilant when travelling anywhere in the West Bank, particularly in areas close to refugee camps, in and around Israeli settlements across the West Bank and in the cities of Jenin, Nablus and Hebron. An Israeli national was killed in the Northern West Bank, near the city of Nablus on 30 April. There are reports of clashes in and around the West Bank”
So an Israeli, presumably an illegal settler, got killed on the West Bank 3 weeks ago. How many Arabs have been killed on the West Bank since then? And as for “reports of clashes”!
4) “Stay alert in and around the Old City in Jerusalem”
This is reasonable advice, but it dodges the issue of whether East Jerusalem, which contains the Old City, is located in “Israel” or the “Occupied Territories” from an FCO point of view.
Actually, of course, no part of Jerusalem, nor indeed of the larger area containing that city, is recognised by the UK as being part of Israel de jure. I repeat: the UK does not recognise Israeli sovereignty over any part of Jerusalem, East or West. In fact there is not even full recognition of the Zionist de facto role in West Jerusalem. That’s why the British Consulate-General, which is not a mission to Israel, plays a practical role in the whole of the city.
Not that anyone would know that, from reading the ‘British’ press or the FCO website.
Haaretz has this today
“Israel effectively barring tourists from West Bank by neglecting to explain mandatory permit”
http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/israel-effectively-barring-tourists-from-west-bank-by-neglecting-to-explain-mandatory-permit.premium-1.524784
It’s getting less comfortable for the locals, too:
http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/thousands-of-israelis-protest-against-austerity-measures-1.524633?localLinksEnabled=false
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