Israel has no place in the US Visa Waiver Program

At 81, my father still recounts stories about our village, Nuris, and his place of birth, Bisan (Beit She’an), with a heavy heart.

As children, my siblings and I would often stand with our father on the western border of Jordan, where our family has lived as refugees for more than 75 years, and look over to our homeland, Palestine. He would point out to us, with tears in his eyes, the location where his family home in Bisan once stood.

Our village, Nuris, was depopulated in 1948. Now, an Israeli settlement called Nurit stands on its ruins. Nuris is just 20 miles (32km) away from that border spot we used to visit. However, the distance always felt much greater. We always felt as if there were oceans and continents between us. Sure, we knew the village was nearby, but we had no way of getting there.

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