RAMALLAH, Tuesday, May 5, 2020 (WAFA) – The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates today accused Israel of discriminating against Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem who want to return home in light of the worldwide coronavirus outbreak.

It said in a statement that in its efforts to gather information about Palestinians stranded abroad, mainly students, due to the coronavirus outbreak in order to help them to return to their homes, it became clear that the Israeli authorities have been discriminating against the Palestinian residents of occupied Jerusalem who carry Israeli residency documents.

It said that Israel puts obstacles in the way of the foreign ministry trying to help the stranded Jerusalem residents to return to occupied East Jerusalem while also preventing them from coming home through Israel Tel Aviv airport.

It recalled one case of Khader Abu Ilyya, an East Jerusalem resident and lecturer at Al-Quds University, who travelled out of Tel Aviv airport to the United States on March 14 and when he returned home through Tel Aviv airport a month later he was denied entry at the airport and sent back to the US even though he had a valid return visa.

The ministry said that Israel has demanded to separate Palestinian holders of Jerusalem identity card from the rest of the Palestinian students from the West Bank who are waiting in Jordan to come home and refused to allow the Palestinian embassy in Jordan to provide them with any assistance while not doing anything to help the Jerusalem residents in their efforts to return home.

M.K.