How does Israel decide who gets a visa to Ramallah?
Amira Hass | Ha’aretz 8 September 2009 Sven Ouzman, a 39-year-old archaeologist from South Africa, violated the terms of his “Palestinian Authority only” visa six times, when unintentionally and for lack of choice, he drove on roads under full Israeli control, between Palestinian Authority enclaves in the West Bank. Ouzman, who was attending a conference of the World Archaeological Congress in Ramallah last month, was late for a lecture he was scheduled to deliver on the evening of August 9. He had arrived at the Allenby Bridge crossing on Saturday morning, August 8, after having passed through passport control on the Jordanian side and entering the Israeli-controlled area, but the Israel Airport Authority employees demanded he come back the next day. When he asked them why, “they were very rude and would not reply,” Ouzman said this week by phone from South Africa. Acquaintences later told him that such arbitrariness is standard on the Israeli side. Ouzman returned to Amman for the ni
