United Methodists denied entry to Israel

Key points:

• Four United Methodists were among an interfaith delegation of U.S. citizens who were turned back when they tried to cross the border into Israel for a visit with Holy Land Christians.
• The Rev. Edward Phillips, retired associate professor at United Methodist-related Candler School of Theology, said the incident “blatantly violates” the 3-year-old visa waiver agreement between the United States and Israel.
• The situation in the West Bank has deteriorated dramatically in recent weeks, as settler militias have stepped up their attacks on Palestinian communities.

The Rev. Edward Phillips, a retired United Methodist professor, has been to the Holy Land four times to visit sacred sites and spend time with Christians and others who call Palestine and Israel their home.

Yet when he tried to cross the border from Jordan into Israel on Aug. 13, leading an interfaith delegation of U.S. citizens, the group was turned back by Israeli Border Police.

He said he and 12 other members of the delegation crossed into Israel on the King Hussein Bridge, which crosses the Jordan River near Jericho.

“We were tourists, going there to visit holy places, talk with Christians and others about their lives, especially on the West Bank. We wanted to hear their stories and support the Palestinian economy,” Phillips told United Methodist News in a phone call from Jordan.

Phillips is a retired associate professor of historical theology and Christian worship at United Methodist-related Candler School of Theology at Emory University in Atlanta.

He said that while some members of the group passed through Israeli immigration without problems, border officials strongly questioned others, accusing them of supporting terrorism in Israel.

“One woman who interviewed me accused me of lying, and told me, ‘You’re coming here to tell people what we’re doing to the Christians. That’s what you’re here to do. Shame on you,’” Phillips said.

Nine members of the group, including Phillips himself, were eventually granted visas and were waiting for the others inside Israeli territory. Yet the remaining four, including Phillips’ wife, the Rev. Sara Webb Phillips, also a United Methodist pastor, were refused entry.

Ed Phillips said immigration officials eventually came out and ordered the nine people with visas to return to the immigration facility. They had their passports and visas confiscated and were told they would be photographed and fingerprinted and placed on a bus, though border police refused to reveal where they would be taken.

Phillips said that when one woman in the group used her phone to call the U.S. embassy in Jerusalem, a border police officer tried to grab the phone away. As the two wrestled over the phone, Phillips said another official intervened and allowed her to keep her phone.

Eventually, the group — which included four United Methodists in all — got on the bus and were given their passports back, along with an official document saying they had been denied entry to Israel. The document cites “public security or public safety” and “prevention of illegal immigration” as reasons for the denial of entry. The bus transported them back across the river into Jordan.

Phillips said when it became apparent that some group members might be denied entry, they contacted a lawyer in Jerusalem who called a judge who called the border police. He suspects that’s why the officials confiscated the visas they had already granted the nine, making it appear they were never granted visas and were simply denied entry, whereas in fact they were deported.

Phillips said the incident “blatantly violates” the 3-year-old visa waiver agreement between the United States and Israel. Under that agreement, citizens of each country can travel to the other country for business or tourism for up to 90 days without first obtaining a traditional visa, provided they secure an approved travel authorization beforehand. Phillips said all members of the group had obtained ahead of time an electronic travel authorization for entering Israel.

The Israeli embassy in Washington did not respond to a request for comment.

While most members of the delegation have returned to the U.S., Phillips and four others remain in Jordan for now. He said they have “only heard crickets” after reporting their experience to the U.S. embassy.

The situation in the West Bank has deteriorated dramatically in recent weeks, as settler militias, backed by the Israeli military, have stepped up their attacks on Palestinian communities. Even Mike Huckabee, the U.S. ambassador to Israel and an enthusiastic supporter of the country’s government, on Aug.12 decried the “Israeli terrorists” besieging Palestinian homes in the village of Qusra.

In response to mounting criticism of its policies, Israel has increasingly blocked entry to foreigners. Six members of the Canadian Parliament were refused entry last December. In June, a nine-person U.S. delegation led by Holy Land Christian Ecumenical Foundation was denied entry. Earlier this month, Israel barred entry to six international and Palestinian-American comedians scheduled to perform at the 1,001 Laughs Palestine Comedy Festival, forcing event organizers to have them appear via Zoom.

Phillips said his group was hoping to get to Taybeh, a Christian village in the West Bank under siege from settler militias and the Israeli military.

“They’re trying to choke out Taybeh and other Christian communities as part of their land grab. And the people suffering have reached out to us, asking us to come and see for ourselves what’s happening on the ground. That’s what we were going to do, then return to the U.S. and share what we saw,” Phillips said.

“If Israel isn’t going to let people in, fewer people will be able to document what’s happening and go back home to break the veil of ignorance that’s blinded us to what’s truly occurring there.”

According to Jonathan Kuttab, an international human rights lawyer whom the group contacted, the U.S. embassy did make inquiries about the incident with the Israeli government, but he doubts it will produce any response. “They have not been very effective in using their leverage,” Kuttab told United Methodist News in a phone call from Jerusalem.

Kuttab said he is appealing the entry denials in an Israeli court, but doesn’t expect any prompt action.

The behavior of the border police, Kuttab said, is not surprising.

“There’s a general atmosphere in which Israel can now do what it wants,” he said. “There’s total impunity. Nobody’s going to stop them. So, excluding the group may be a high-level decision, or it may just be some lower-level functionary who feels they can throw their weight around and do what they want because no one’s going to stop them. The higher-ups are certainly not going to intervene on behalf of Americans who are viewed as sympathetic to Palestinians.”

Besides the implications for the visa-waiver program, the incident raises “disturbing” questions about the status of Christians in Israeli-controlled territories, said Kuttab, a Palestinian Christian.

“For Christians especially, our very existence, our continuing presence in the occupied territories, depends on being able to welcome pilgrims and tourists. But the fact is that Israel would rather there weren’t any Christians here. They want this to be a Jewish place,” he said.

“While they pay lip service to being open and saying that everyone has freedom of worship and freedom of religion and all that stuff, the reality is that they want it to be an exclusively Jewish place. But it’s not. It has Christians, Muslims and Jews. We all belong to this land. It’s not the exclusive domain of any one group. That’s a radical statement given the current understanding of Zionism. But this is a land to be shared by all, and not owned by one.”

In response to the delegation members’ experience, they and other activists launched an online petition calling on the U.S. government to investigate the incident, with particular attention to Israel’s apparent failure to comply with the visa waiver program.

Among sponsors of the petition is United Methodist Kairos Response, an unofficial denominational advocacy group supporting justice for Palestinians and peace in the Middle East. Carol Garwood, the group’s co-chair, said churches around the world play a key role in assuring the survival of Holy Land Christians.

“I have personally visited several of the Advance projects that United Methodists support in the region, and I hate to think that I may be denied entry the next time I travel there and not able to maintain those relationships. Palestinian Christians are already feeling abandoned by the world. Not being able to meet with other Christians from around the world who want to visit them will deepen their feelings of isolation and despair,” Garwood said.

United Methodist Bishop David Graves, who leads the three conferences in the Kentucky-Tennessee Episcopal Area, is Phillips’ bishop. Asked about the delegation’s experience, he said, “I am aware of the situation with Ed Phillips, and we are all praying that this resolves soon. We pray for a swift and safe return of the entire team.”

California-Nevada Conference Bishop Sandy Olewine, who once served as a United Methodist missionary in Palestine and Israel, said she signed the petition demanding accountability for the group’s experience. She said the delegation’s difficulties reflect a wider problem.

On June 25, the California-Nevada Conference sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, sharing its concern about the “tragedy unfolding” in the Holy Land. Since 2009, the conference has supported Friends of Wadi Foquin, an organization that partners United Methodists with the Palestinian village.

“What people need to understand is that the denial of movement and entry, whether for study, medical care, work, family or travel, are the essence of everyday reality for Palestinians,” Olewine said. “This call is about more than Americans being able to visit, which would be the height of privilege and arrogance. It is about being able to bear witness to injustice and oppression in which our government participates, knowing that a just peace can only arise from ending of the dehumanization of the Palestinian people.”

Jeffrey is a freelance photojournalist who lives in Oregon. A former United Methodist missionary, he is a founder of Life on Earth Pictures.

News media contact: Julie Dwyer at [email protected]. To read more United Methodist news, subscribe to the free UM News Digest.