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<a class="gmail-domain gmail-reader-domain" href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/demographic-engineering-israels-new-visa-rules-restrict-students-family-and-romance">middleeasteye.net</a>
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<h1 class="gmail-reader-title">Israel's new West Bank visa rules restrict students, family and romance</h1>
<div class="gmail-credits gmail-reader-credits">By MEE staff - September 3, 2022<br></div>
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<p>From 'apartheid regulations' to 'draconian measures', groups across
the occupied West Bank and Israel are denouncing new policies set to
take effect on Monday </p>
<p><img src="https://www.middleeasteye.net/sites/default/files/styles/article_page/public/images-story/Birzeit_AFP.jpg?itok=xfrRlqGR" alt="" class="gmail-moz-reader-block-img" style="margin-right: 0px;" width="418" height="278">
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<p><font size="1">A Palestinian woman holds a baby wearing a cap during a graduation
ceremony at Birzeit University in the West Bank town of Birzeit, near
Ramallah (AFP/File photo)</font></p>
<p><span>Published date:</span> 3 September 2022 16:46 UTC
<span>| </span>
<span>Last update:</span> <span id="gmail-date-updatedago">2 hours 19 mins </span> ago </p>
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<div><p>Foreigners who have started romantic relationships with <a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/countries/palestine" target="_blank">Palestinians</a> in the occupied West Bank must register with the <a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/countries/israel" target="_blank">Israeli</a> defence ministry within 30 days, according to a controversial set of new rules aimed at isolating the Palestinian population. </p>
<p>Under the regulations, first <a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israel-palestine-lecturers-allowed-teach-universities" target="_blank">published in February</a>
to a storm of protest, a foreigner who marries a Palestinian ID holder
will be required to leave the country after 27 months for a period of at
least half a year. Foreign spouses visiting the West Bank will be
limited to three- or six-month permits.</p>
<p>The rules are part of a wider crackdown on foreigners and diaspora
Palestinians wanting to live, visit, work or study in the West Bank.</p>
<blockquote>
<h3>'This is micromanaging, with the purpose to damage the Palestinian social fabric'</h3>
<h3><em>- Sam Bahour, Palestinian-American businessman</em></h3>
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<p>Human rights groups in Palestine and Israel have denounced the policies, which are set to take effect on Monday. </p>
<p>The regulations were laid out in a 97-page document and include <a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israel-palestine-lecturers-allowed-teach-universities" target="_blank">new restrictions on Palestinian universities</a>,
such as a cap of 150 student visas and 100 foreign lecturers. These
rules include universities that are in Area A of the West Bank, a
fraction of territory that, under the Oslo Accords, is supposed to be
under complete Palestinian control. </p>
<p>Israel places no such limits on how many visiting students and
foreign lecturers can attend Israeli institutions. The measures will be a
major blow to student exchange programmes operated by the European
Union, such as the Erasmus+ programme, among others.</p>
<p>Businesspeople and aid organisations have also denounced the new
rules, saying they will be severely affected, as the policies place
strict limitations on the duration of visas and visa extensions, in many
cases preventing people from working or volunteering in the West Bank
for longer than a few months. </p>
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<p><a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israel-us-lawmakers-push-against-inclusion-visa-waiver-programme" target="_blank"><img src="https://www.middleeasteye.net/sites/default/files/styles/read_more/public/images-story/us-congress-rashida-tlaib-2020-afp.jpeg?itok=ELWlnpcT" alt="" class="gmail-moz-reader-block-img" width="400" height="250">
</a></p><p><font size="1">US progressive lawmakers push against Israeli inclusion in visa waiver programme</font></p>
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<p>"This is micromanaging, with the purpose to damage the Palestinian
social fabric," said Sam Bahour, a Palestinian-American businessman who
moved to the West Bank from Ohio in 1995.</p>
<p>Under the regulations, foreign passport holders - including
Palestinians living abroad - will also no longer be able to obtain visas
on arrival and instead have to apply for them at least 45 days in
advance.</p>
<p>In most cases, foreigners visiting the West Bank will no longer be
able to arrive via Israel's main airport near Tel Aviv, and will instead
be required to enter through the land crossing between Jordan and the
West Bank. </p>
<p>"This is about demographic engineering of Palestinian society and
isolating Palestinian society from the outside world," Jessica Montell,
executive director of the Israeli non-governmental organisation HaMoked,
told the <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-62730164.amp" target="_blank">BBC</a>. </p>
<p>HaMoked has petitioned the Israeli High Court against the regulations.</p>
<p>"They make it much more difficult for people to come and work in Palestinian institutions, volunteer, invest, teach and study." </p>
<p>Canadian doctor Benjamin Thomson, is also one of the 19 plaintiffs
involved in the legal challenge. He said he is concerned about how the
Israeli move will disrupt the work of health professionals.</p>
<p>"These draconian measures will severely impact their work, and impair
the lives of the Palestinian people," said Thomson, director of the
Keys of Health project aimed at rebuilding healthcare in the Palestinian
territories.</p>
<p>The new rules do not apply to those visiting Jewish-only settlements in the occupied West Bank.</p>
<p>The PLO, the umbrella body representing the Palestinian people, has
said that the rules bring in "apartheid regulations that impose a
reality of one state and two different systems".</p>
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