JOHN,

This summer, after an announcement that Israel will finally allow U.S. citizens of Palestinian ethnicity to enter the country via Tel Aviv, we are seeing a rise of denials and discrimination.

To help inform the U.S. State Department and the other Biden administration agencies, we are providing the link to report your experience of discrimination.

If you’ve experienced discrimination when trying to enter Israel, here’s a form to complete:

https://forms.office.com/pages/responsepage.aspx?id=dFDPZv5a0UimkaErISH0S3k54wgSN71Bs_xpxUGsY7dURUhMNlc5SlFHS0ZMRVIyTzBYNFpRQVoyWC4u

Don't assume your own member of Congress is aware of your experience, so be sure to also connect with them for help as well.

I was also refused entry a few years ago, so I am not surprised that other Americans are also experiencing very clear discriminatory practices.

In an attempt to join the U.S. Visa Waiver Program—which would allow Israeli citizens to enter the U.S. for 90 days without applying for a visa—Israel committed to treat all U.S. citizens equally when they visit Israel.

But Palestinian Americans, Arab Americans, Muslim Americans, and pro-Palestinian American citizens have continued to experience harassment and been denied entry at Israel-controlled borders.

I’ve raised this disparate treatment of U.S. citizens with the U.S. Secretary of State and the U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security. Unless the Israeli government ends all ethnically, racially, religiously, and politically based discrimination against American citizens at its borders, it is ineligible for the Visa Waiver Program.

I will continue to fight against all forms of discrimination, including being targeted solely based on your ethnicity.

In solidarity,

Rashida