Visas

If you know anyone who tries to work or live in Palestine, you know that the most effective way for occupation to keep us out of Palestine and away from doing our work is to deny us visas. We try to come in on tourist visas, and we are forced to either leave and renew at borders, or to attempt a visa extension at the Israeli Ministry of Interior—a branch of the government that is infamous for is disorganization and refusals. I am, like most others, a victim of the visa. I was naïve enough to believe it would work itself out, but alas I have not only had my requested visa extension denied, but I was forced to buy a new plane ticket and sign a document swearing not to renew the visa. And so, I’m leaving. The crazy thing is, I had all my ducks in a row. I even had official government recommendations requesting my extension. And yet here I find myself refused. What can one do? It is nearly impossible to get a work visa for the occupied areas and that is where my life, work, and heart all reside. I know another guy, with no papers or plans, who went through the Ministry of Interior and found himself leaving with a six month extension. Why> Is there really any method to this madness? Maybe the point is to not create policies, to not have rules, to not have structure or organization. I don’t know. All I know is that it is utterly impossible to build infrastructure and institutions when we cannot keep employees here.