Denied

Again!

Krista is a twenty-something American Christian who has a passion for peace.  Krista believes that as a follower of Jesus she has an obligation to stand alongside those who are being oppressed, especially if the oppressed are fellow followers of Jesus.  Because Palestinian Christians fit the criteria for Krista, she came to Israel/Palestinian to walk the walk.  Krista’s initial mistake was being honest.  When asked at Ben Gurion Airport why she came to Israel, she said:  “I’m working for Sabeel.”  Wrong answer, the truth!  Sabeel is an organization black-listed by the Israeli government.  Sabeel is accused of many sins, but always under the smear of being anti-Semitic.  Sabeel is not anti-Semitic, by the way, but being “not” does not mean that you cannot be named as such.  A year and a half ago, the first time Krista set foot in Israel, she was sent back to the United States.

But Krista is a stubborn young lady.  She refused to be “denied.”  So Krista went back to the States, bought a ticket to Jordan, and then entered Israel through the Allenby Bridge.  Like most of us who volunteer in Israel, Krista was then given a three-month visa.  This means that every three months Krista has to leave the country and reenter.  After a time or two of doing that, Krista was once again denied entry.  Her passport was stamped with a “denial” stamp and she was sent back to the States.  Again, Krista would not be “denied.”  She applied for and received a new passport.  She reentered Israel and continued to work with Sabeel.  Just a few weeks ago Krista flew to the States for a series of conferences run by Sabeel.  On returning to Israel, she was once again denied entry and deported back to the States.  The reason?  She had been in and out of Israel too often.

Doesn’t Israel have a right to accept or deny entry to whomever she wants?  Absolutely.  But let’s talk about US instead of Israel.  As concerns visa applications like Krista’s, the United States of America operates under the ideal of “reciprocity” – meaning that we treat other countries as they treat us.  In other words, if you deny our citizens entry into your country on grounds of access – coming and going too often – then we do the same to your citizens.  Simple and fair, as far as I’m concerned. I expect the United States to stand up for me and to make sure that I am being treated fairly by countries with whom we share so much in common. But we don’t treat Israeli citizens in the same manner as they treat ours. An Israeli Jewish person who enters the United States as a student, religious volunteer, rabbi teaching in a "yeshiva" or even an activist openly working with the Israel Lobby, is given a five-year multiple entry visa.  Krista gets denied.

That's not right.  Deny that.