Over the past few weeks the Israeli Interior Ministry has stopped issuing work visas to members of international non-governmental organizations (NGOs). The Ministry has been giving them tourist visas instead. This has been making it almost impossible for NGO's to do their jobs.
This new policy is affecting over 120 international NGOs, especially those who are providing vital humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank.
The tourist visas prohibit NGO members from working in Israeli-occupied parts of Palestine, including East Jerusalem. NGO members have reported being harassed at checkpoints and refused entry to the border.
Many NGOs have called this new Israeli policy illegal, claiming it violates Geneva and humanitarian law. Many activists and aid workers have said this is a plan to consolidate Israel's hold on the occupied territories and push out the Arab residents.
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
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