Foreigners linked to Palestinians face visa woes

RAMALLAH, West Bank — American Kate Hamad doesn’t dare leave Ramallah, fearing trouble, even deportation, if stopped at an Israeli checkpoint on the outskirts of the autonomous Palestinian city in the West Bank.

Israel rejected her request for a visa renewal three months ago, she said, even though her Palestinian husband and their three youngest children have West Bank residency. She appealed, but hasn’t heard back.

“You really feel trapped and you really feel scared,” said the 32-year-old from Grimes, Iowa.

Hamad is among a growing number of foreigners in the West Bank having Israeli visa problems, according to Palestinian officials and Israeli lawyers.

They said that over the past year, Israel has made it harder for those with ties to Palestinians to stay in the West Bank on spouse or work visas, harming families, universities and even a school teaching Western classical music to Palestinian children.

COGAT, a branch of the Israeli Defense Ministry, denied it has adopted tougher rules, saying visa applications are judged on a case-by-case basis. It did not respond to requests to provide statistics.

The underlying problem for foreigners is that the Palestinian self-rule government, which administers 38 percent of the West Bank, does not have the authority to grant them residency without approval by Israel.

As a result, thousands of people are in limbo, with residency applications often ignored or rejected, leaving them only with the option of seeking temporary visas from Israel.

“You are always just a visitor, and you are left begging for your status,” said California native Morgan Cooper, 36, who recently had her spouse visa extended for six months.

Over the years, residency permits for foreign spouses of Palestinians have become a bargaining chip, with Israel at times agreeing to certain quotas and freezing requests in periods of crisis.

About 25,000 applications are still pending, out of a total of 65,000 submitted since the mid-1990s, said Walid Wahdan of the Palestinian Civil Affairs Department.

The Hamad family moved to Ramallah last June after selling their house in New Orleans, so the children could get to know their Palestinian relatives.

Karen Laub and Mohammed Daraghmeh are Associated Press writers.