Arab Americans must have equal protection under Israeli law

In late August, Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett returned home after meetings with US President Joe Biden and US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, saying his "arms were full" – his upbeat way of describing the "goodies" he received from his American hosts.

One of these "gifts" was mentioned by the State Department's spokesperson who noted that Mr Blinken and Mr Bennett "agreed on the importance of working towards Israel's inclusion in the Visa Waiver Programme (VWP) in order to benefit both US citizens and Israeli citizens." Mr Biden's statement, following the White House meeting, also mentioned this issue using language that was more qualified: "We're also going to direct our teams to work towards Israel fulfilling the requirements of the Visa Waiver Programme and get that done."

I had been fully prepared for Mr Bennett to secure new US commitments regarding aid and Iran, and US silence on settlements and Palestinian human rights, but was troubled by the mention of the VWP. I had hoped that we had succeeded in putting that matter to rest in 2014 when the State Department made it clear that Israel could not qualify for the programme because of its treatment of Arab Americans, especially, but not exclusively, those of Palestinian descent seeking entry into the country.

One of the provisions of the VWP is that each admitted country demonstrate commitment to reciprocity – which for Israel means guaranteeing that all American citizens are treated equally at entry, just as the US would be committed to treat all Israeli citizens. Back in 2014, in explaining its reasons for denying Israel entry into the VWP, the State Department spokesperson noted that "the Department of Homeland Security and State remain concerned with the unequal treatment Palestinian Americans and other Americans of Middle Eastern origin experience at Israel's border and checkpoints, and reciprocity is the most basic condition of the VWP.”

Israel's treatment of American citizens of Arab descent has been a consuming passion of mine for more than four decades. While running the Palestine Human Rights Campaign in the 1970s, I handled dozens of cases of Palestinian Americans who were unable to visit their families because they were denied entry at Israel's borders. The treatment they received was often unwarranted. Sometimes they were detained for long periods. The problem continued into the following decades, with a new twist after the signing of the Oslo Agreement and the creation of the Palestinian Authority. Difficulties for Arab Americans continued at Ben Gurion Airport, but Palestinian Americans, even those born in the US, were now confronted by a new obstacle to entry. They were told that Israel didn't recognise their American passport or citizenship. In Israel's view they were Palestinians and therefore were required to secure a Palestinian ID and could only enter using the Allenby Bridge from Jordan.

Several US administrations have been responsive to our concerns

During all these years, we protested to the State Department noting that Israel's behaviour against US citizens of Arab descent was in violation of the 1951 US-Israel treaty in which Israel commits to permit US citizens the right to "travel freely, to reside at places of their choice, to enjoy liberty of conscience" and to guarantee them "the most constant protection and security."

Several administrations have been responsive to our concerns. Former US President Bill Clinton provided me with the opportunity to directly challenge then Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak on this issue. Secretary Madeleine Albright raised it with her Israeli counterpart, and upon receiving our reports of Israel's behaviour towards the US citizenship of Palestinian Americans, Secretary Condoleezza Rice issued a strong statement insisting that "an American citizen is an American citizen," demanding that all of us be treated equally.

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If you go

Where to stay: Courtyard by Marriott Titusville Kennedy Space Centre has unparalleled views of the Indian River. Alligators can be spotted from hotel room balconies, as can several rocket launch sites. The hotel also boasts cool space-themed decor.

When to go: Florida is best experienced during the winter months, from November to May, before the humidity kicks in.

How to get there: Emirates currently flies from Dubai to Orlando five times a week.

Baftas 2020 winners

BEST FILM

1917 - Pippa Harris, Callum McDougall, Sam Mendes, Jayne-Ann Tenggren
THE IRISHMAN - Robert De Niro, Jane Rosenthal, Martin Scorsese, Emma Tillinger Koskoff
JOKER - Bradley Cooper, Todd Phillips, Emma Tillinger Koskoff
ONCE UPON A TIME… IN HOLLYWOOD - David Heyman, Shannon McIntosh, Quentin Tarantino
PARASITE - Bong Joon-ho, Kwak Sin-ae

DIRECTOR

1917 - Sam Mendes
THE IRISHMAN - Martin Scorsese
JOKER - Todd Phillips
ONCE UPON A TIME… IN HOLLYWOOD - Quentin Tarantino
PARASITE - Bong Joon-ho

OUTSTANDING BRITISH FILM

1917 - Sam Mendes, Pippa Harris, Callum McDougall, Jayne-Ann Tenggren, Krysty Wilson-Cairns
BAIT - Mark Jenkin, Kate Byers, Linn Waite
FOR SAMA - Waad al-Kateab, Edward Watts
ROCKETMAN - Dexter Fletcher, Adam Bohling, David Furnish, David Reid, Matthew Vaughn, Lee Hall
SORRY WE MISSED YOU - Ken Loach, Rebecca O’Brien, Paul Laverty
THE TWO POPES - Fernando Meirelles, Jonathan Eirich, Dan Lin, Tracey Seaward, Anthony McCarten

FILM NOT IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE

THE FAREWELL - Lulu Wang, Daniele Melia
FOR SAMA - Waad al-Kateab, Edward Watts
PAIN AND GLORY - Pedro Almodóvar, Agustín Almodóvar
PARASITE - Bong Joon-ho
PORTRAIT OF A LADY ON FIRE - Céline Sciamma, Bénédicte Couvreur

LEADING ACTRESS

JESSIE BUCKLEY - Wild Rose
SCARLETT JOHANSSON - Marriage Story
SAOIRSE RONAN - Little Women
CHARLIZE THERON - Bombshell
RENÉE ZELLWEGER - Judy

LEADING ACTOR

LEONARDO DICAPRIO - Once Upon a Time… In Hollywood
ADAM DRIVER - Marriage Story
TARON EGERTON - Rocketman
JOAQUIN PHOENIX - Joker
JONATHAN PRYCE - The Two Popes

SUPPORTING ACTOR

TOM HANKS - A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood
ANTHONY HOPKINS - The Two Popes
AL PACINO - The Irishman
JOE PESCI - The Irishman
BRAD PITT - Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood

SUPPORTING ACTRESS

LAURA DERN - Marriage Story
SCARLETT JOHANSSON - Jojo Rabbit
FLORENCE PUGH - Little Women
MARGOT ROBBIE - Bombshell
MARGOT ROBBIE - Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

THE IRISHMAN - Steven Zaillian
JOJO RABBIT - Taika Waititi
JOKER - Todd Phillips, Scott Silver
LITTLE WOMEN - Greta Gerwig
THE TWO POPES - Anthony McCarten

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

BOOKSMART - Susanna Fogel, Emily Halpern, Sarah Haskins, Katie Silberman
KNIVES OUT - Rian Johnson
MARRIAGE STORY - Noah Baumbach
ONCE UPON A TIME… IN HOLLYWOOD - Quentin Tarantino
PARASITE - Han Jin Won, Bong Joon ho

DOCUMENTARY

AMERICAN FACTORY - Steven Bognar, Julia Reichert
APOLLO 11 - Todd Douglas Miller
DIEGO MARADONA - Asif Kapadia
FOR SAMA - Waad al-Kateab, Edward Watts
THE GREAT HACK - Karim Amer, Jehane Noujaime

OUTSTANDING DEBUT BY A BRITISH WRITER, DIRECTOR OR PRODUCER

BAIT - Mark Jenkin (Writer/Director), Kate Byers, Linn Waite (Producers)
FOR SAMA - Waad al-Kateab (Director/Producer), Edward Watts (Director)
MAIDEN - Alex Holmes (Director)
ONLY YOU - Harry Wootliff (Writer/Director)
RETABLO - Álvaro Delgado-Aparicio (Writer/Director)

ANIMATED FILM

FROZEN 2 - Chris Buck, Jennifer Lee, Peter Del Vecho
KLAUS - Sergio Pablos, Jinko Gotoh
A SHAUN THE SHEEP MOVIE: FARMAGEDDON - Will Becher, Richard Phelan, Paul Kewley
TOY STORY 4 - Josh Cooley, Mark Nielsen

CASTING

JOKER - Shayna Markowitz
MARRIAGE STORY - Douglas Aibel, Francine Maisler
ONCE UPON A TIME… IN HOLLYWOOD - Victoria Thomas
THE PERSONAL HISTORY OF DAVID COPPERFIELD - Sarah Crowe
THE TWO POPES - Nina Gold

EE RISING STAR AWARD (voted for by the public)

AWKWAFINA
JACK LOWDEN
KAITLYN DEVER
KELVIN HARRISON JR.
MICHEAL WARD

CINEMATOGRAPHY

1917 - Roger Deakins
THE IRISHMAN - Rodrigo Prieto
JOKER - Lawrence Sher
LE MANS ’66 - Phedon Papamichael
THE LIGHTHOUSE - Jarin Blaschke

EDITING

THE IRISHMAN - Thelma Schoonmaker
JOJO RABBIT - Tom Eagles
JOKER - Jeff Groth
LE MANS ’66 - Andrew Buckland, Michael McCusker
ONCE UPON A TIME… IN HOLLYWOOD - Fred Raskin

COSTUME DESIGN

THE IRISHMAN - Christopher Peterson, Sandy Powell
JOJO RABBIT - Mayes C. Rubeo
JUDY - Jany Temime
LITTLE WOMEN - Jacqueline Durran
ONCE UPON A TIME… IN HOLLYWOOD - Arianne Phillips

PRODUCTION DESIGN

1917 - Dennis Gassner, Lee Sandales
THE IRISHMAN - Bob Shaw, Regina Graves
JOJO RABBIT - Ra Vincent, Nora Sopková
JOKER - Mark Friedberg, Kris Moran
ONCE UPON A TIME… IN HOLLYWOOD - Barbara Ling, Nancy Haigh

SOUND

1917 - Scott Millan, Oliver Tarney, Rachael Tate, Mark Taylor, Stuart Wilson
JOKER - Tod Maitland, Alan Robert Murray, Tom Ozanich, Dean Zupancic
LE MANS ’66 - David Giammarco, Paul Massey, Steven A. Morrow, Donald Sylvester
ROCKETMAN - Matthew Collinge, John Hayes, Mike Prestwood Smith, Danny Sheehan
STAR WARS: THE RISE OF SKYWALKER - David Acord, Andy Nelson, Christopher Scarabosio, Stuart Wilson, Matthew Wood

ORIGINAL SCORE

1917 - Thomas Newman
JOJO RABBIT - Michael Giacchino
JOKER - Hildur Guđnadóttir
LITTLE WOMEN - Alexandre Desplat
STAR WARS: THE RISE OF SKYWALKER - John Williams

SPECIAL VISUAL EFFECTS

1917 - Greg Butler, Guillaume Rocheron, Dominic Tuohy
AVENGERS: ENDGAME - Dan Deleeuw, Dan Sudick
THE IRISHMAN - Leandro Estebecorena, Stephane Grabli, Pablo Helman
THE LION KING - Andrew R. Jones, Robert Legato, Elliot Newman, Adam Valdez
STAR WARS: THE RISE OF SKYWALKER - Roger Guyett, Paul Kavanagh, Neal Scanlan, Dominic Tuohy

MAKE UP & HAIR

1917 - Naomi Donne
BOMBSHELL - Vivian Baker, Kazu Hiro, Anne Morgan
JOKER - Kay Georgiou, Nicki Ledermann
JUDY - Jeremy Woodhead
ROCKETMAN - Lizzie Yianni Georgiou

BRITISH SHORT FILM

AZAAR - Myriam Raja, Nathanael Baring
GOLDFISH - Hector Dockrill, Harri Kamalanathan, Benedict Turnbull, Laura Dockrill
KAMALI - Sasha Rainbow, Rosalind Croad
LEARNING TO SKATEBOARD IN A WARZONE (IF YOU’RE A GIRL) - Carol Dysinger, Elena Andreicheva
THE TRAP - Lena Headey, Anthony Fitzgerald

BRITISH SHORT ANIMATION

GRANDAD WAS A ROMANTIC - Maryam Mohajer
IN HER BOOTS - Kathrin Steinbacher
THE MAGIC BOAT - Naaman Azh

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets

More on Afghanistan

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Editorial: The US-Taliban deal is only the first step to peace

Ken Hedricks: The Afghan scorpion farmer harvesting valuable venom for international buyers

Sulaiman Hakemy: Afghanistan's election results are finally released, but leadership remains overdue

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While you're here

Hussein Ibish: Could it be game over for Donald Trump?

Joyce Karam: Trump's campaign thrown off balance

Trump tests positive: everything we know so far

How to help

Call the hotline on 0502955999 or send "thenational" to the following numbers:

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MATCH INFO

AC Milan v Inter, Sunday, 6pm (UAE), match live on BeIN Sports

MATCH INFO

Euro 2020 qualifier

Fixture: Liechtenstein v Italy, Tuesday, 10.45pm (UAE)

TV: Match is shown on BeIN Sports

List of UAE medal winners

Gold
Faisal Al Ketbi (Open weight and 94kg)
Talib Al Kirbi (69kg)
Omar Al Fadhli (56kg)

Silver
Zayed Al Kaabi (94kg)
Khalfan Belhol (85kg)
Zayed Al Mansoori (62kg)
Mouza Al Shamsi (49kg women)

Bronze
Yahia Mansour Al Hammadi (Open and 94kg)
Saood Al Hammadi (77kg)
Said Al Mazroui (62kg)
Obaid Al Nuaimi (56kg)
Bashayer Al Matrooshi (62kg women)
Reem Abdulkareem (45kg women)

MORE FROM ED HUSAIN: The UAE-Israel accord is a win for every Muslim