Israeli travel ban turns Palestinians' dreams into nightmares

Aziboy

Banned
Israeli travel ban turns Palestinians' dreams into nightmares

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Over the past four years, Amer Mahariq, a 26-year-old young man from the town of Samou near southern West Bank city of Hebron, has been trying to get the Israeli authorities' permission to travel to Saudi Arabia for higher education.

After his applications for traveling abroad to study Quraan at one of the Saudi universities were repeatedly denied by the Israeli authorities, Mahariq became hopeless to have his dream come true.

"After I sent my application to the Islamic University in Saudi Arabia, which was approved, and then after I prepare myself to leave to go there and gain my masters degree in Quraan talents, the Israeli authorities ban me from crossing the borders between the West Bank and Jordan," Mahariq told Xinhua.

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There is no airport in the West Bank, and any Palestinian who wants to travel abroad must go through the border crossing between the West Bank and Jordan, which is controlled by Israel.

"Every time, Israel says that my travel abroad is a danger on Israel's security," Mahariq said.

"In the past four years, I tried five times. Every time Israel claims that leaving the West Bank is a danger to its security," Mahariq said, "Finally, I went to meet an Israeli intelligence officer to ask why I can't travel, and he told me 'if you want to leave, you won't be able to return for a period of time.'"

The Israeli security officer gave Mahariq two choices, he said, "The first one is to charge me for the accusations he records in my secret file, and the second is to sign on a guarantee not to return to the West Bank for five years."

The Palestinians say Israel is exerting pressures on students and patients who are in a bad need for travelling abroad by forcing them to sign on documents to promise not to come back for several years if they leave the West Bank.

"It's an Israeli policy to empty the West Bank of its residents, " said Mahariq.

"I certainly rejected the security officer's offer, who wants me to drop my right of having a free access to travelling and returning home. Travelling with dignity is my legitimate right," Mahariq added.

The despaired Palestinian student and dozens of other Palestinians in the West Bank appealed to the Israeli High Court of Justice against the Israeli security intelligence policy of banning them from traveling, although they knew clearly that this move "was useless."

Mahariq is not the only Palestinian restricted by Israel from travelling abroad. Official figures shows that 4,000 Palestinians have been denied by Israel of travelling abroad since 2011. Every week Israel prevents around 83 Palestinians from travelling without specifying the reasons behind the move.

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A West Bank-based rights group said in a report published this week that "most of the 4,000 Palestinians that Israel bans from travelling abroad had been facing Israeli pressures and humiliation, such as being asked to be naked for several hours, harshly interrogated and kept to wait so many hours for meeting security officers to know about the reason."

It added that the Israeli ban did not exclude women, children and aged Palestinians from the West Bank, and also included lawmakers, journalists, intellectuals and politicians.

Khaled Zawawi, a Palestinian from the West Bank city of Nablus in his mid 40s, has been banned from travelling since 2008, when he wanted to travel to Mecca in Saudi Arabia for pilgrimage. "I arranged everything, and once I arrived at the borders, Israel didn't let me to cross."

"I tried three times to cross, and every time Israel did not allow me to travel," Zawawi said, adding that the ban "turns my dreams into nightmares."

He has referred his case to a group called "the right to travel ", which was recently established on the worldwide social website of Facebook by a group of Palestinian young men.

Muaaz Meshaal, one of the group's founders, told Xinhua that the group aims to "shed the light on an important issue that no one pays attention to while thousands of people are suffering from. "

Source: GNA
 

dna1987

Muslim Guy
Par for the course I'm afraid.

What's the saucepan doing on the Israli's solider helmet?

Maybe he's trying to shine sunlight into the eyes of the Palestinians. Just a guess.

I know there are settler Israeli kids who do that all the time with mirrors..plenty of those videos on youtube.
 

queenislam

★★★I LOVE ALLAH★★★
Jews@Zionist

:salam2:


~May Allah swt help,protect and guide all muslims~Amiin!

Thank you
for sharing this brother.
:jazaak:

~Wassalam :)
 
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