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American Palestinians speak out about denied entry to Israel

American Palestinians traveling to Israel's Ben Gurion Airport are increasingly detained and sent back, and told they should contact the Palestinian Authority to have their Palestinian IDs revoked, which would allow them entry to Israel.
An EL AL Boeing 777 aircraft is seen at Ben Gurion International Airport near Tel Aviv July 14, 2015.  REUTERS/Nir Elias  - RTX1K9K6

Over the course of a few days in July, three US citizens of Palestinian descent were denied entry into Israel. All three have published detailed testimonials of their experiences.

George Khoury, professor and theologian, has been a naturalized US citizen since 1975. His visit to Israel as part of a religious pilgrimage in late July ended in the detention center at Ben Gurion Airport. For Israeli airport security, the problem was that 46 years ago, in 1969, Khoury had lived in the West Bank city of Beit Jala while he studied at its well-known Latin Seminary. While Khoury, 70, has been a US citizen for over 40 years now, he is still treated as a Palestinian national by the Israeli airport authorities.

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