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For justifiable reasons, nations may prevent "hostile elements" from entering their territory. However, activist travelers aren't threatening. Moreover, they plan West Bank, not Israel, visits. Sovereign Palestine alone has say over accepting or rejecting them. Their sole entry points are through Jordan or Ben-Gurion Airport.
Participants expressed willingness to have Israeli police accompany their buses to Bethlehem. "As we know, no one enters or leaves the West Bank - whether by air or land - without Israel's permission and without going through Israel."
Longstanding Israeli blacklists target human rights activists. Having them reveals Israeli repressiveness and siege mentality. In an open letter before departing, travelers offered a message is peace. They called for ending Israel's occupation. They expressed support for Palestinian rights.
Netanyahu's government calls this confrontation and attempts to "delegitimiz(e)" Israel.
It shows authorities "don't understand that their refusal to allow the human rights activists (entry to) the West Bank illustrates more than anything the occupation's lack of legitimacy."
Real democracies practice what they preach. They welcome peace activists openly "with flowers" and treat them graciously while there.
Haaretz writer Gideon Levy addressed the issue in his article headlined, "A lack of vision is making Israel a short-term state," saying:
Unresolved "issues remain pending....Nobody can say what this country will look like in 10 years. Some people even doubt that it will exist by then, an issue not raised about any other country."
Israel has no constitution. Its Basic Laws substitute. It's the only borderless state for good reason. It facilitates lawless land seizures. Israel has grand plans well beyond Judea and Samaria.
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