On December 14, Linda was turned away at Ben-Gurion International Airport when she came to visit her brother and her aunt. Linda and her brother Shukri, who are both deaf and mute from birth, are U.S. citizens. The reason for denied access: Her brother had remained in the territories after his tourist visa expired. In October he submitted his passport to the Civil Administration for an extension, as the spouse of a PA resident, but his request was not processed.

On December 16, Kamal, an American college student who had come to visit his grandfather in Ramallah, was denied entry to Israel.

On December 20, Abdallah, a German citizen married to a PA resident, with whom he has a baby, was not allowed to return to the country.

	Advertisement

On December 15, Fada Ihlal Thum, a Brazilian citizen married to a Palestinian, was denied entry. She has lived in the Ramallah area for six years and is a student at Bir Zeit University. She and her husband have a 5-month-old baby. After she refused to reboard the bus to Amman at the Allenby Bridge, she was given a one-week visa. Bir Zeit approached the Civil Administration and the officer dealing with diplomatic relations in the Palestinian Authority. The officer said he was not aware of any changes in policy, and suggested that Fadah Tom approach the Palestinian Interior Ministry, which has no authority in the matter.