On January 7, Israel made public a list of 20 organizations, including five U.S.-based organizations, whose leadership is barred from entering Israel due to their support for boycotts for Palestinian rights.

Shortly after members of the US Campaign for Palestinian Rights (USCPR) found out their organization was on the list, USCPR Executive Director Yousef Munayyer said, “We wear this designation as a badge of honor. When Israel, which aims to portray itself to the world as liberal and democratic, blacklists activists dedicated to nonviolent organizing and dissent, it only further exposes itself as a fraud. It is clear to us how effective building the movement for Palestinian rights around the world has become. Our commitment to the rights of Palestinians, and our demand to hold Israel to account for the denial of these rights, is unwavering. As in the effort against apartheid in South Africa, this blacklist and repressive efforts like it will be mere footnotes in the historic march toward freedom, justice and equality.”

Banning entry is by no means a new tactic in the maintenance of Israeli apartheid, but a policy that Israel has been enacting for decades, first and foremost by denying Palestinian refugees their right to return, and then by denying supporters of Palestinian rights.

Read More: Palestine Legal Statement on Israel's Blacklist | USCPR Statement on Israeli Blacklist of Palestinian Rights Organizations | Honor Roll of BDS Organizations Banned by Zionist Israel