Foreigners who visit the occupied West Bank must inform Israel’s Defense Ministry if they fall in love with a Palestinian, according to new rules drafted by COGAT, the Israeli Defense Ministry body concerned with Palestinian civil affairs.
The new rules, which take effect from tomorrow, do not apply to those visiting the illegal Jewish settlements.
This is going to be a problem. Palestinians are extremely lovable. https://t.co/sh29VpnPth
— Amer Zahr (@AmerZahr) September 3, 2022
According to BBC News, if a couple decides to marry, they will be required to leave after 27 months to allow a cooling-off period of at least half a year.
Additionally, the rules stipulate that if the relationship starts after a foreigner arrives in the West Bank, the couple must notify Israeli authorities within 30 days of their engagement, wedding, or the start of cohabitation — “whichever occurs first.”
Watch | A foreign activist talks about how the Israeli occupation forces assault her during a protest to raise Palestinian flags in the village of Izbat at-Tabib in the occupied West Bank city of Qalqilya. pic.twitter.com/5sjXk5c6Fx
— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) June 9, 2022
Jessica Montell, the executive director of the Israeli non-governmental organization HaMoked, was quoted by the BBC as saying that “this is about demographic engineering of Palestinian society and isolating Palestinian society from the outside world.”
“They make it much more difficult for people to come and work in Palestinian institutions, volunteer, invest, teach and study,” Montell added.
(MEMO, PC, SOCIAL)
