Washington, D.C., based Muslim civil rights group supports American Muslims for Palestine effort to seek Hala Kasim Salameh’s immediate release
(WASHINGTON, D.C., 12/19/22) – The national and Missouri offices of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR/CAIR-MO), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today said Israel’s detention of an American citizen by Israeli forces again demonstrates why that nation must not be admitted into the U.S. visa waiver program.
Hala Kasim Salameh, a 22-year-old Palestinian-American from St. Louis, Mo., was detained at a border checkpoint while on her way to visit holy sites in Jerusalem with her family. Family members say she had proper documentation, a travel permit, a U.S. passport and her Palestinian I.D. card when she approached a checkpoint but was turned away. She was detained after her third attempt to enter Jerusalem.
SEE: St. Louis woman detained in Israel, US State Department acknowledges
CAIR offered support for American Muslims for Palestine’s (AMP) effort to obtain legal representation for Salameh and to seek her immediate release.
“The Israel apartheid government openly discriminates against Americans of Palestinian descent, as well as many others based on their race, faith and human rights activism,” said CAIR-Missouri Board Chair Yasir Ali. “Unfortunately, this discriminatory treatment has not been adequately addressed by our nation, which has a duty to protect the American people from racist harassment while traveling.”
He noted that last month, CAIR welcomed the 20-congressional-member letter led by Congressman Don Beyer (D-CA) to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken demanding Israel end its “discriminatory” treatment of Palestinian-Americans who often face severe entry restrictions or outright travel bans when attempting to enter Israel, including when visiting family members in the occupied West Bank.
BACKGROUND ON THE VISA WAIVER PROGRAM AND ISRAEL’S ONGOING DISCRIMINATION AGAINST AMERICAN TRAVELERS
The Visa Waiver Program enables *most citizens or nationals of participating countries to travel to the United States for tourism or business for stays of 90 days or less without obtaining a visa. To join the Visa Waiver Program, the entering country must allow Americans to enter without a visa as well.
For the past several years, Israel has sought access to the United States’ Visa Waiver Program despite discriminating against Palestinian-Americans and American Muslims trying to enter Israel. The congressional letter notes that Israel’s Coordinating Office for Government Affairs and Territories issued new regulations this year that do not ensure reciprocal travel privileges are extended to all United States citizens traveling to Israel.
Israel routinely refuses to allow Americans of Arab ethnicity or Muslim backgrounds to enter their country or the occupied territories it controls. According to the U.S. State Department’s website:
- Some U.S. citizens of Arab or Muslim heritage (including Palestinian-Americans) have experienced significant difficulties and unequal and occasionally hostile treatment at Israel’s borders and checkpoints.
- U.S. citizens who have traveled to Muslim countries or who are of Arab, Middle Eastern, or Muslim origin may face additional questioning by immigration and border authorities.
- U.S. citizens who do not possess other nationality but are married to dual national Palestinian-Americans have been denied entry when information for their spouse has not been updated prior to travel.
- U.S. citizens have been denied entry to Israel and the West Bank for involvement in and/or expressing support on social media for the BDS movement.
- A number of other travel restrictions apply to U.S. citizens who do not possess other nationality or duel Palestinian-American citizens traveling to the West Bank or Gaza.
Last year, CAIR called on President Joe Biden and U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to reject Israel Envoy to the U.S. Gilad Erdan’s request for a U.S. Visa Waiver Program due to Israel’s discriminatory treatment of American travelers.
In 2013, CAIR and other American Muslim and Arab rights organizations defeated an attempt in the U.S. Senate that would have permitted Israel to join the Visa Waiver Program while keeping its discriminatory and restrictive immigration policies.
SEE: Barbara Boxer, AIPAC seek to codify Israel’s right to discriminate against Americans
*Note: On December 18, 2015, the Visa Waiver Program Improvement and Terrorist Travel Prevention Act of 2015 became law as part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act 2016. Today, the act continues to impact travelers that are nationals of Visa Waiver Program countries who have traveled to or been present in Iran, Iraq, North Korea, Sudan, Syria, Libya, Somalia, and Yemen on or after March 1, 2011 (with some limited exceptions). The act also impacts mainly Muslim nationals of Visa Waiver Program countries who are also nationals of Iran, Iraq, North Korea, Sudan, or Syria. The act was adopted when more than half the nation’s governors declared Syrian refugees were not welcome in their states as the U.S. rejected those fleeing war and persecution in Syria. The act is viewed by many as the legal foundation for the prior administration’s now defunct Muslim travel ban. CAIR continues to urge Congress and the Biden administration to repeal this discriminatory act.
CAIR’s mission is to protect civil rights, enhance understanding of Islam, promote justice, and empower American Muslims.
La ission de CAIR es proteger las libertades civiles, mejorar la comprensión del Islam, promover la justicia, y empoderar a los musulmanes en los Estados Unidos.
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CONTACT: CAIR-Missouri Board Chair Yasir Ali, Yasir.ali@cair-mo.org, 314-722-6116; CAIR National Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell, 404-285-9530, e-Mitchell@cair.com; CAIR Government Affairs Director Robert McCaw, 202-742-6448, rmccaw@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-744-7726, ihooper@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Coordinator Ismail Allison, 202-770-6280, iallison@cair