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Palestinians waiting to pass through the Erez crossing from Gaza to Israel. (AP)
Last update - 21:39 01/06/2008
U.S. consulate working to get exit visas for Gaza students
By The Associated Press and News Agencies
Tags: Gaza, Israel, Fulbright 

The U.S. Consulate in Jerusalem is working to get seven Gaza students
out of the blockaded territory to pursue their Fulbright scholarship studies, the human rights group Gisha said Sunday.

Gisha gave the Associated Press a copy of a message sent to all seven students by the consulate on Sunday. It said U.S. officials are trying to get exit permits for them, bring them to east Jerusalem and get them visas for the U.S. Then they could continue their studies.
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"We are working very closely with the Government of Israel in order to secure its cooperation in this matter," the message read. Consulate officials had no immediate comment.

Gisha director Sari Bashi welcomed the pledge of the consulate to help. "Gisha calls on Israel to allow all students with scholarships trapped in Gaza to leave and study abroad," she said.

On Thursday the students were informed that their scholarships would be canceled because the students couldn't get out of Gaza.

Israel has blockaded Gaza in the year since the Hamas gained power. Israel allows humanitarian cases to leave, but officials say students are not included. However, Israeli officials indicated a solution would be found for the students.

The U.S. State Department on Friday pressed Israel's government to allow seven Palestinians who live in the Gaza Strip to travel to the United States to study on coveted Fulbright fellowships.

"We are trying to revisit this issue with the Israeli government," State Department spokesman Tom Casey told reporters, referring to Israel's failure to grant exit visas for the students.

"Frankly, a decision to let people that have been vetted for what is perhaps the most prestigious foreign educational program run by the United States ... it ought to be [as easy as] falling off a log for them to be able to do this."

Earlier Friday, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said she would investigate a report that the State Department had withdrawn Fulbright Scholarship grants to the Palestinian students because they were denied exit visas by Israel.

"I had not known this, and I'll look into it," Rice told reporters on her plane while flying from Stockholm, where she attended an international conference on Iraq.

"Perhaps there are reasons, but I want to look into why this has happened," she said.

The seven won the prestigious grants for education at U.S. universities and are still eligible, U.S. State Department spokesman Tom Casey said.

"The issue was that they could not get visas, so the decision was made to
transfer the Fulbrights to the West Bank rather than lose them for this year," Casey said.

Hadeel Abu Kawik, 23, a computer engineering student, received her scholarship after a lengthy process that included interviews, exams and an English test.

"I was building my hope on this scholarship," she said Friday.

Named for the late U.S. Senator J. William Fulbright, the grants are the flagship U.S. government educational exchange program. They go to U.S. citizens and nationals of other countries for a variety of educational activities, primarily university lecturing, advanced research, graduate study and teaching in elementary and secondary schools. The $198 million (127.6 million Euros) annual program brings 7,000 foreign students to the
U.S.

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      1.   Educational Terrorism 07:01  |  Shlomo 30/05/08
      2.   nice 07:03  |  rm 30/05/08
      3.   Fullbright Scholarships Retracted 07:37  |  Yehudit 30/05/08
      4.   shame 07:45  |  sous1970 30/05/08
      5.   So a academic boycott of Etzistan is fully justified. 08:13  |  Andreas 30/05/08
      6.   Shame 08:15  |  Nizar 30/05/08
      7.   Another step in the destruction of Palestinian society 08:23  |  Maki 30/05/08
      8.   Yehudit 08:26  |  Nizar 30/05/08
      9.   Another reason... 08:29  |  C`est Moi 30/05/08
      10.   forbidden 08:43  |  rm 30/05/08
      11.   Knowledge is power. 08:51  |  Maureen Ann 30/05/08
      12.   Yehudit, learn about your gov`t`s policies 09:15  |  Observer 30/05/08
      13.   Hamas and Egypt control the crossing not Israel 09:32  |  Ilan 30/05/08
      14.   The stench of Israel`s hypocrisy is overwhelming 09:34  |  Palestinian in UK 30/05/08
      15.   puts academic boycott in perspective 09:37  |  raymond deane 30/05/08
      16.   Apparently US See Gaza as Occupied 10:02  |  Mark of Lewiston 30/05/08
      17.   Gaza closure 10:03  |  Noel 30/05/08
      18.   "academic freedom" - Israeli style 10:04  |  Chanalau, Tova 30/05/08
      19.   what they can do in Gaza than serving Hamas? 10:06  |  Saba 30/05/08
      20.   #8, not to worry 10:09  |  Oberserver 30/05/08
      21.   Gaza closure 10:21  |  eric 30/05/08
      22.   When will Israel get it? 10:22  |  Evan 30/05/08
      23.   Hamas leadership exit via EGYPT, the 10:24  |  Arthur 30/05/08
      24.   Ban???? 10:27  |  Uzi 30/05/08
      25.   Dumb, dumb, dumb.... 10:30  |  Ofer Maimon 30/05/08
      26.   #5 -" In a nutshell "as they say 10:37  |  Israeli grandma 30/05/08
      27.   #23 10:40  |  Liberal 30/05/08
      28.   To boycott Israel`s Academia is justified 10:48  |  Paul Wood 30/05/08
      29.   The U.S. should not invite "palestinian" arabs 10:49  |  Frank Lee 30/05/08
      30.   brilliant move, keep it up 11:08  |  WTF 30/05/08
      31.   What a Shame 11:11  |  Abby 30/05/08
      32.   Academic freedom? 11:20  |  Sylvie 30/05/08
      33.   Unthoughtful of the U.S. 11:26  |  AliciaYasmeen 30/05/08
      34.   September 11 is the reason 11:26  |  David 30/05/08
      35.   Alicia Yasmeen, hate can cause premature death 12:00  |  El-Birawi 30/05/08
      36.   samir al kuntar wrote a letter to nasrallah 12:05  |  giora 30/05/08
      37.   For all the Israeli bashers 12:15  |  jackie 30/05/08
      38.   #36 David 12:29  |  Chris Linthwaite 30/05/08
      39.   I hope Israel`s academic establishment will respond... 12:34  |  Ben Alofs 30/05/08
      40.   #40 Jackie 12:49  |  Rachel Stevens 30/05/08
      41.   Israeli/US Axis 12:57  |  Terence 30/05/08
      42.   #38 El Birawi: talking about yourself? Your letter is full of it! 13:01  |  AliciaYasmeen 30/05/08
      43.   #36 What`s the connection wih Sept 11? 13:08  |  Outsider 30/05/08
      44.   #44 Rachel 13:23  |  Londoner 30/05/08
      45.   #42 Tanya Rheinhardt is dead; Ilan Pappe is in exile 13:33  |  Chanalau, Tova 30/05/08
      46.   Prisoners denied education 13:44  |  Joe 30/05/08
      47.   Denying visas to these kids is just not right 13:45  |  Lynn 30/05/08
      48.   And this helps who? 13:45  |  Marilyn 30/05/08
      49.   I am sorry for the students, but they can only thank Hamas for... 13:51  |  Amihai 30/05/08
      50.   Feeling sorry 13:54  |  Chrisy 30/05/08
      51.   collective punishment 13:55  |  Fadi Hirz 30/05/08
      52.   I do not support this move 14:01  |  Yered Shmuel 30/05/08
      53.   El-Birawhi 14:04  |  Linichka 30/05/08
      54.   It would be fair 14:04  |  Keops 30/05/08
      55.   Beacon of darkness 14:09  |  Baz Mann 30/05/08
      56.   Archibishop Tutu is now visiting Gaza. He 14:12  |  Avraham 30/05/08
      57.   they may go to Cairo, fly to the US 14:22  |  z 30/05/08
      58.   yishai kohen 4 14:25  |  potobac 30/05/08
      59.   # 31 Frank Lee 14:30  |  Mary 30/05/08
      60.   Loss of academic freedoms. Time to boycott Israel 14:48  |  Nick Ferriman 30/05/08
      61.   Chris Linthwaite # 41 14:52  |  ChanahS 30/05/08
      62.   #13 observer 14:54  |  John Allen 30/05/08
      63.   ben alofs and palestinian education 14:57  |  giora 30/05/08
      64.   #15 You are not a pal! 15:01  |  John Allen 30/05/08
      65.   Why can`t they travel through Egypt? 15:02  |  Realist 30/05/08
      66.   ben alofs "the situation for palestinian students 15:02  |  giora 30/05/08
      67.   ben alofs if israel deserves a boycott for 15:05  |  giora 30/05/08
      68.   Anti-Hamas Gazan students, no less! 15:09  |  Aphemia 30/05/08
      69.   #38 El- Hate is bad! 15:10  |  John Allen 30/05/08
      70.   ben alofs "denying education is simply the means 15:12  |  giora 30/05/08