Two Palestinian men visiting the Bay Area for an interfaith humanitarian mission had their visas revoked after landing in San Francisco on Wednesday afternoon, according to their sponsor, a local Jewish synagogue leader.
Eid Hthaleen and Awdah Al-Hathaleen arrived at SFO around 1 p.m. to share their experiences living in the West Bank and to visit various houses of worship, like Christian churches and the Kehilla Community Synagogue in Piedmont, that have supported them and their village.
Instead, their sponsor learned that the two men’s visas had been canceled and that they would be deported on a flight out of the country. They were put in detention shortly after landing and, as of 8 a.m. on Thursday, were still held in custody.
“If people are coming here with valid visas and immigration papers, and even they are being turned away … what does this mean for the rest of the residents who live in San Francisco and the country?” District 5 Supervisor Bilal Mahmood told Mission Local over the phone from the San Francisco airport, where he had traveled late Wednesday night and posted video of himself calling on the federal government to reverse course.
“This is another example of an escalating constitutional crisis in our country,” he said.
Both men are from Masafer Yatta, a group of villages that has been targeted for destruction by Israel over decades and was recently featured in the Oscar-winning “No Other Land.”
Customs and Border Protection did not immediately return a request for comment. San Francisco has seen more than 20 ICE detentions over the past week, with people arrested at the ICE field office or at immigration court, separated from family members, and flown across the country.
Phillip Weintraub, who is Jewish and a lead organizer of a Palestinian solidarity committee at the Kehilla Community Synagogue in Piedmont, said he was the main coordinator helping the two men enter the country. He arrived at the airport around 1 p.m. to pick them up, but neither man exited customs.
Weintraub, who is also an immigration attorney, said he had seen copies of both men’s visas. One had an existing visa from a visit last year. The other is a teacher and had a new visa issued in May.
Both men live in a Bedouin village that Weintraub described as “under siege by Jewish settlers and Israeli forces.” One of the men’s family homes, for example, was destroyed last summer by bulldozers.
“Everything about their visit was straightforward, aboveboard,” Weintraub said. “Cultivating relationships between Christians and Jewish and Palestinian community, which seems to be a rather laudable, wonderful thing.”
When the two men didn’t come out at the arrivals gate, Weintraub and the broader community that was expecting them began making calls all the way up to Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee’s office.
Over the next several hours, Weintraub kept trying to ask questions of Customs and Border Protection officials, but didn’t learn much until 10:30 p.m., when he was given a “courtesy call.”
Weintraub was told he could speak to either man until they are on a plane back to the West Bank. Immigrants on revoked visas have no right to counsel, said Weintraub.
When Mission Local interviewed him around midnight, Weintraub was still at SFO, hoping to draw attention to what he called an “outrageous injustice.”
“They just want to live in their village and have no desire to harm anyone,” he said. “And they are trying to share their experience of how hard it is, and the role of the U.S. government in supporting Israel … and express their appreciation with communities that have supported them over the years.”
At around 8 a.m. on Thursday, the San Francisco chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations called for a rally at SFO to demand the “immediate release” of both men.
Note: Awdah Al-Hathaleen‘s name is also spelled as Ouda Alhadlin on his documents, but those familiar with him said he used the former spelling.
Yesterday I listened to the US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee double down on lies being told about the horrific events in Gaza, and was sickened.
Source: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/mike-huckabee-on-the-israel-hamas-war-and-humanitarian-situation-in-gaza
Said he: “One of the things that I admire most about President Trump, he is the ultimate pragmatist, that he has two questions that he poses for every decision, will it work and will it make things better?”
This is how Nazis and fascists think. Democracy and human rights mean nothing to them. All they care about are “results”.
They don’t want any fraternization between faiths, or oppressed people to unite in common cause in service of life and justice.
They don’t want anyone to question or disagree with their authority. The rule of law is an impediment to be dispensed with in the interest of convenience.
Convenience for who?
Great reporting Eleni Belakrishnan!
I saw the interview as well and I was abhorred. I wrote to PBS Newshour in outrage because I can’t believe they actually went ahead with airing his lies And total dehumanization. An absolutely despicable human being.
The host did press Huckabee on a particular point, asking if he was suggesting if Palestinians should be relocated. Huckabee takes a pause, and then says it would be ‘disastrous to try to say’ Palestinians have to leave, and then states they want to leave, and should be free to leave. For many Gazans, he’s probably right on the former, and he is right on the latter (imo, of course. And sadly).
Not that it was a mystery, but Huckabee gave away the game. You don’t say Palestinians have to leave, you put conditions to wherein there is no alternative. No kid should have to grow up like that. Sure, Israel won’t clear all Gazans out, but they will move everyone to the Sinai edge, and eventually a trickle will turn into a torrent.
And under the cover of war with Iran, the West Bank is next. Violence and relocation will increase dramatically, and the bantustans will be buttoned down like never before.
Sadly, Your prognosis is devastatingly correct. . Although i don’t believe Gazans want to leave. By making conditions unlivable, that is forcing them to leave. Same in west bank. So cruel snd brutal.
Agreed. Thank you.
Was looking forward to their visit and appreciate the efforts of the interfaith community to bring them here and host them for a short time. What has our county become? Denied with valid visas. Shame on those who pull strings in the background to silence truth, delay understanding and peace. Peacemakers denied…
They don’t want any Palestinians speaking about the truth here. Exactly why no Film distributors would pick up No Other Land.
They make all Palestinians out to be terrorists. I would bet money that non-governmental interest groups were also involved. Anything to hide the truth. An absolute outrage.
This is despicable. These men have valid visas and the right to share their stories.
Excellent work Eleni Balakrishnan. You broke this story, which has now been picked up internationally. That’s a big deal. Mahmood also deserves credit, for sure. He got the call, and he got busy.
Masafer Yatta is in Area C of the West Bank, meaning it is extraordinarily perilous as settlers living in outposts run roughshod. The ultra-violent ring leader in Masafer Yatta is an American, who works in tandem with his son. Itamar Ben-Gvir is top cop in the region that encompasses Masafer Yatta, so settler mobs act with impunity, often side-by-side with the IDF.
I won’t link directly to ‘Footage of Israeli Settlers Assaulting Palestinians Villagers in Masafer Yatta,’ but it’s simple to find.
The chances Israel didn’t put in a request on this one are slim to none. I’d be interested to know where they flew out of … possibly Jordan as Tel-Aviv is no-go. They are being deported to Qatar, according to Haaretz.
100%.
Again, laws and rules of laws do not apply any longer, judges are irrelevant..Thugs and masked wannabes are ruling the hood, thanks to this administration, the republican party and the people who voted for them. Democrats are inaudible and irrelevant as well.Welcome to nazi pre-germany. If you cannot see that, you need to pick up some books..
“Nazi pre-Germany?”
Nazi Germany
VALID visas. Did everything required correctly. Where is Daniel Lurie on this?
I just came back from LA, where dozens of mayors came to support Karen Bass. Where was Lurie?
Daniel Lurie has Sam Altman as his close advisor and friend.
Sam Altman gave $1 million to Trump and has his fingerprints all over that Big Beautiful Budget with the limits on legislation for AI.
Lurie won’t say anything. SF is being run by Trump-donating broligarchs.
No Kings. Even in SF.
A valid visa is no guarantee of entry. It says so on every visa application form.
And I applaud Lurie for staying focused on governing the city like he was elected to do.
Thank you for reporting on this.
Thank you for reporting on this serious matter. Knowing how long and arduous the process can be to obtain a valid U.S. visa, to be denied entry upon landing is a slap in the face. They deserve better as do all Palestinians.
Great reporting! This is appalling.
I think there is one typo in this line—”Weintraub was told he could speak to either man until they are on a plane back to the West Bank. Immigrants on revoked visas have no right to counsel, said Weintraub”
Should be “he couldn’t speak to either man,” right?
Odeh was shot and killed today in Israel by an Israeli settler.