A group of interfaith leaders and advocates gathered Monday at Eastside Church in Atlanta to criticize Israel’s decision to deny entry to 13 American citizens who had planned to visit the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
The delegation included four United Methodists as well as other Christian, Jewish and Muslim participants.
Organizers said the Americans were detained, refused admission and barred from returning for as long as 10 years after attempting to enter Israel from Jordan through the Sheik Hussein Bridge on Aug. 13.
Members of the group argued that the denial violated the terms of the U.S. visa waiver program, which allows citizens of participating countries to travel without first obtaining a visa. They also alleged that Israeli authorities were seeking to prevent foreign visitors from observing conditions in Palestinian territories.
The Rev. Edward Phillips, a retired Emory University theology professor and United Methodist minister who led the delegation, said one of the group’s planned destinations was Taybeh, an all-Christian village in the West Bank. The village has reportedly been surrounded by the Israel Defense Forces amid concerns about repeated attacks by Israeli settlers.
Residents of Taybeh have reported multiple incidents over the past year, including vandalism, an attempted church arson, burned vehicles and damage to olive groves caused by cattle grazing and fires. Israeli officials have condemned the reported attacks, although no arrests have been announced.
Phillips said the visit had been arranged “via contacts” with the Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center in East Jerusalem, an organization associated with Palestinian Liberation Theology. Critics, including NGO Monitor, have alleged that the group and its founder “employs antisemitic themes and imagery.” Phillips, however, described Sabeel as a “nonviolent resistance organization in the spirit of Jesus, Martin Luther King and Gandhi.”
During the Atlanta press conference, Phillips displayed an image of what he called a “demolished home” in Silwan, a Palestinian neighborhood in Jerusalem that the delegation had intended to visit, and said it soon became clear that the trip would not proceed as planned.
Phillips said that after several interactions with border officials, the group received a written denial stating “prevention of illegal immigration considerations” as the reason for refusing entry.
Following the incident, Friends of Sabeel North America launched a petition calling on members of Congress to investigate whether the Israeli government had acted improperly in denying the delegation entry.
