Israel has revoked entry permits of US Jews who volunteered with Palestinians — report

Israel is revoking entry permits of Jewish Americans who volunteered in the West Bank to protect Palestinians from settler violence, The Forward reports.

The publication interviews seven American Jews who have had their electronic travel authorizations (ETAs) revoked over activity known as “protective presence” over the past two years.

One of them says no reason was given by Israeli authorities for the decision, but she recalls being stopped by IDF soldiers while accompanying a Palestinian farmer during a grape harvest. Her group was held for several hours and she said her passport was confiscated by a soldier who agreed to let her go after finding no reason she should be deported.

Another Jewish American activist, Sam Sherman, tells The Forward that he was informed of his revoked visa while in the midst of a seven-week protective presence stint in the Masafer Yatta region of the West Bank, which has long been subject to Israeli demolitions.

Sherman, too, says he was never arrested for his work, rather stopped several times by soldiers who photographed his ID before letting him go.

“It happened to me and a few others in my cohort … within the same hour,” Sherman says. “A few of us got the same email within minutes of each other.”

More experienced activists told him he wouldn’t be able to return to Israel unless he made aliyah.

“If I’m the wrong kind of Jew for Israel… Sure. Great,” he says sarcastically.

Israeli authorities do not respond to The Forward’s requests for comment.