OCCUPIED JERUSALEM —
Israel has amended and delayed
proposed new rules for entering the West Bank, which it has occupied since
1967.
اضافة اعلان
The changes and the delay in implementing them follow a wave
of condemnation from Brussels, Washington, and international human rights
organizations.
The amended rules are now due to come into effect on October
20, according to the new draft.
What were new rules Israel wanted?
The regulations, originally supposed to come into effect on
Monday, had stipulated that foreigners hoping to enter the
West Bank would have
to apply for a visa at least 45 days prior to arrival. Visitors would also have
been forced to declare any property they own, as well as if they stand to
inherit any.
In certain cases, they would have to have paid a deposit of
up to 70,000 shekels (around $20,500).
Impact on higher education?
The proposed rules placed quotas on the numbers of
university lecturers (100 per year) and foreign students (150 a year) attending
Palestinian universities.
Romantic relationships?
The new rules demanded that those who entered into a
relationship with a Palestinian declare this to the defense ministry within 30
days.
The original 97-page document also said foreign spouses of
Palestinians would initially be granted three or six-month permits, with most
then required to leave the West Bank for six months before obtaining a new
permit.
What has changed?
Israeli occupation forces published a revised text on Sunday
that go into effect as part of a "two-year trial".
The obligation to declare a romantic relationship within 30
days has been dropped, as have the quotas on the number of lecturers and
foreign students in universities.
The mandatory spending of several months outside the West
Bank between two visas for foreign spouses of Palestinians has also been
dropped. The mention of ownership of land or inheritance no longer appears in
the visa application.
Rules challenged in court
The proposed new rules were delayed after being challenged
in Israel's supreme court by 19 plaintiffs.
One of the plaintiffs, Israeli rights group HaMoked, said it
plans to continue its legal challenge, describing the revised rules as
discriminatory.
"They have removed some of the most outrageous
elements," said the executive director of HaMoked, Jessica Montell.
"But the basic problem remains: Israel will prevent
thousands of families from living together, if one spouse is a foreign
national, for blatantly political reasons of demographic engineering," she
added.
Local, international reactions
Palestinian Prime Minister
Mohammad Shtayyeh on Monday
called the rules "racist", saying they targeted foreigners of
Palestinian origin and "those who stand in solidarity with
Palestine".
The US ambassador to Israel, Tom Nides, said he would
continue to be "aggressively engaged" with Israel over the new rules,
calling on the Israeli government to make "necessary adjustments".
Hanan Ashrawi, a former senior member of the PLO, tweeted
that the regulations were "designed not only to control and restrict
academic exchange and cultural life, they are also an intrusive form of
demographic engineering manipulating marriages and family life".
In July, the EU's Education Commissioner Mariya Gabriel
said: "While Israel greatly benefits from Erasmus+ (exchange program), the
(European) Commission considers that it should facilitate and not hinder the
access of students to Palestinian universities".
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