From: https://www.haaretz.com/2006-11-02/ty-article/cabinet-tells-idf-keep-pressure-on-hamas-and-ready-for-gaza-operation/0000017f-eb5f-ddba-a37f-eb7f41ce0000
Additionally, the cabinet agreed to "launder" the presence in the West Bank of some 5,000 Palestinians who hold American or European passports but returned to the West Bank after the Oslo Accords were signed. Because they had lost their residency permits due to long absence, they entered on tourist visas, but for years, these visas were automatically renewed. Recently, however, the Interior Ministry has refused to renew them, resulting in many being "trapped" in Jordan, cut off from their jobs and families.
This development has elicited sharp protests from the U.S. and the European Union, and the coordinator of government activities in the territories, Major General Yosef Mishlav, therefore recommended giving them residency permits on a humanitarian basis. Peretz approved this idea and forwarded it to the diplomatic-security cabinet, which ratified it
yesterday.
Onward,
Sam
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Sam Bahour (سام بحور) resides in Al-Bireh/Ramallah, Palestine. He does business consulting as Applied Information Management (AIM), specializing in business development with a niche focus on the information technology sector and start-ups.
Bahour was instrumental in the establishment of two publicly traded firms: the Palestine Telecommunications Company (PALTEL) and the Arab Palestinian Shopping Centers (APSC). He is Co-founder & Emeritus Member of Americans for a Vibrant Palestinian Economy (A4VPE) and until recently served as an independent Director at the Arab Islamic Bank P.L.C. and a board member at Just Vision.
He writes frequently on Palestinian affairs and has been widely published in leading outlets. He is co-editor of HOMELAND: Oral History of Palestine and Palestinians (Olive Branch Press, 1993), tweets at @SamBahour, and blogs at epalestine.ps.
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