Progressives Raise Alarm On Anti-Arab Discrimination In Israel’s Visa Waiver Program

At least 20 House Democrats have sent a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas demanding transparency and accountability related to reports of Muslim and Arab Americans ― particularly Palestinians ― facing discrimination under Israel’s Visa Waiver program.
In the Friday letter first obtained by HuffPost and spearheaded by Reps. Jamaal Bowman (N.Y.) and Summer Lee (Penn.), the lawmakers expressed concern about Israel not complying with the Visa Waiver Program’s requirements established last year. The program lets Israeli citizens enter the U.S. visa-free for up to 90 days for business, tourism or transit ― in return, all U.S. citizens can request visa-free entry into Israel under the same terms.
One of the program’s main requirements is that both the U.S. and Israel maintain reciprocal treatment of their citizens. This means that all citizens of one country who have applied through the program to enter the other country must be treated equally regardless of ethnicity, religion and national origin.
But with mounting reports that Israel has been discriminating against Muslim and Arab Americans trying to enter the country, Thursday’s letter calls for more transparency into the program, as well as additional documentation on Israel’s compliance ― and if violations persist, a suspension of Israel’s participation.
“The Visa Waiver Program is a privilege, not a right,” Lee said in a statement about the program, which the U.S. uses with about 40 other countries. “Reports of Muslim and Arab Americans being subjected to invasive questioning, discriminatory barriers, and systemic exclusion are deeply troubling and undermine the integrity of the program.”
Neither the State Department nor the Homeland Security Department responded to HuffPost’s request for comment.
Thursday’s letter is not the first time lawmakers have voiced concern over Israel’s noncompliance with the Visa Waiver Program. Last year, 15 senators wrote to Blinken saying that Israel was not on track to meeting the program’s reciprocity requirements by the Sept. 30, 2023, deadline. Blinken and Mayorkas’ agencies still designated Israel as eligible for the program.
“For decades, Israel has systematically discriminated against Arab, Palestinian and Muslim American travelers, a problem that has not been resolved over the last year that Israel has participated in the Visa Waiver Program,” said Chris Habiby, the national government affairs and advocacy director at the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee.
Among the reports raised by the lawmakers are Palestinian Americans essentially facing a two-tiered system, which is also documented in the July 2023 Memorandum of Understanding between the U.S. and Israel for the program. U.S. citizens carrying a Palestinian Authority ID who reside in the occupied West Bank must go through a different application process via an app, compared to other Americans who the letter says are given free access to the West Bank for any purpose with no restrictions on travel.
Muslim and Arab Americans have recalled facing invasive questioning at check points by Israeli authorities, some of who will search and seize their belongings. Lawmakers also cite cases of Israel denying visa renewals and permit requests for Palestinian Americans based on “irrelevant factors,” instead issuing them a different color visa than other Americans.
“The denial of entry for Palestinian Americans to Palestine is part of a deeper campaign to erase the Palestinian identity,” Bowman said in a statement.
The Visa Waiver Program agreement began before Hamas militants killed 1,200 people and abducted about 250 in southern Israel, an attack that resulted in the Israeli military’s ongoing U.S.-funded offensive that has killed at least 44,000 Palestinians and rendered Gaza uninhabitable.
The Thursday letter expressed concern that since Israel invaded the enclave, U.S. citizens who are also listed on the Palestinian Population registry for Gaza cannot enter the occupied West Bank or Israel. The concern was backed up by the American Federation of Ramallah, which says it has received hundreds of firsthand accounts detailing the discrimination Arab Americans have faced when trying to enter Israel.
On top of the apparent two-tier system, lawmakers raised the alarm on Palestinian American physicians who have been blocked by Israel from entering Gaza in order to render critical medical assistance in a territory reduced to rubble. Israel’s indiscriminate bombing of Palestinians combined with the ongoing aid blockade and health care collapse has led many in the international community to label the assault as an act of apartheid, ethnic cleansing and genocide.
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“Palestinian American physicians have been providing critical medical care that Gazans desperately need, and denying their entry simply because of their heritage is denying a group of people with cultural and ethnic ties to the affected populations, not to mention with essential language skills,” the letter stated.
“These cases seem to reflect systematic discrimination against U.S. citizens of a certain ethnicity, religion or nationality, which is directly in violation of the program requirements,” it continued. “Additionally, a central requirement of the VWP is that Israel maintains a non-immigrant visa refusal rate below 3%. After October 7, it is uncertain whether Israel has remained under the threshold.”