| Dear Fellow Birawis,
This Monday, Israel will implement new discriminatory entry policies that will restrict, track, and, in some cases, prohibit the travel of foreign nationals to the occupied Palestinian territories.
The 90-page ordinance issued by the Coordinating Office for Government Affairs in the Territories (COGAT) will make it much harder for many Palestinian Americans and other U.S. citizens to travel to the West Bank to visit family, conduct business, study or teach, or engage in tourism. These policies are inherently discriminatory as they will not affect Americans who wish to visit Israel or any of the illegal settlements in the Occupied West Bank.
This is all happening as Israel is being considered for entry into the Visa Waiver Program (VWP), which would allow Israeli citizens to visit the United States without the need to apply for a visa prior to entering, and would result in increased information sharing on travelers between Israel and the United States.
Urge your Member of Congress to sign on to Representative Beyer’s Dear Colleague letter protesting the COGAT procedures and Israel’s Entry to the Visa Waiver Program.
Representative Don Beyer (D-VA) is currently circulating a letter in Congress protesting the COGAT restrictions and Israel’s entry into the Visa Waiver Program. Members of Congress need to sign on to this letter before 12:00 PM Wednesday, October 19.
Write your Representative in Congress TODAY to make sure they join this important congressional initiative and sign on to Rep. Beyer’s letter using either of the action alerts from the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) and the Arab American Institute (AAI) below.
CLICK HERE TO URGE YOUR MEMBER OF CONGRESS_ADC TOOL
CLICK HERE TO URGE YOUR MEMBER OF CONGRESS_AAI TOOL
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