The Defense Ministry has refused to allow two prominent Palestinians to attend an international symposium on the Middle East at the University of San Diego in southern California next week. The ban apparently does not apply to three other Palestinians invited to the symposium.
The two denied permission to leave are Mustapha Abd A-Nabi Natshe, the former Mayor of Hebron, and Fayez Abu-Rahme, a lawyer from Gaza. Security sources said there was concern they would use the occasion to meet with hostile elements but did not elaborate.
Natshe and Abu-Rahme were to have been part of a large Israeli delegation. The invitees include Abba Eban, chairman of the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Security Committee; Knesset members David Libai and Shulamit Aloni; Prof. Shimon Shamir, a leading expert on Middle East affairs; Hanna Seniora, editor of the East Jerusalem Arabic daily El-Fajer; Hatem Abu-Ghazale, a Palestinian educator from Gaza; and Dr. Sari Nusseibeh of Bir Zeit University in the West Bank.
The Defense Ministry was reported under pressure from the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv to lift the ban. Eban is to discuss the matter Monday with the other Israeli members of the delegation.
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