Palestinian Humanitarians Deported from SFO Despite Mass Community Protest

The pair, an educator and an artist, have a longstanding relationship with Kehilla Community Synagogue in Piedmont and Buena Vista United Methodist Church in Alameda. They were scheduled to visit this week on a humanitarian mission to thank their supporters at the synagogue and raise funds for a summer camp in their village of Masafer Yatta, which is threatened with displacement and ethnic cleansing by Israel. After an eight-hour wait at the airport, two supporters from the synagogue received a brief call from Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) informing them that the Palestinian visitors’ visas had been cancelled. No explanation was provided. SF Supervisor Bilal Mahmood traveled to the airport last night and joined supporters in meeting with CBP officials

“What we witnessed today is an unprecedented suppression of speech — a targeted attack on those working toward peace and justice,” said San Francisco District 5 Supervisor Bilal Mahmood. “This overreach to deport peace activists sets a dangerous precedent for the direction of our nation. Now more than ever, it is important for us all to speak out against injustice and fight to defend our civil rights.”

Supporters rallied today for over 8 hours demanding the visas be reinstated and that the two Palestinian community leaders be released so they can meet their local sponsors and carry out their humanitarian mission. Despite this mass community outcry, the visas were not reinstated and the pair were sent back on a flight around 4PM.

“While we weren’t able to reverse this unjust detention today, we did demonstrate that we will mobilize by the hundreds at a moment’s notice to defend our people,” said Mohamed Shehk with the Arab Resource and Organizing Center. “The genocide against our loved ones in Gaza is still raging on, and we will continue to fight to end the US’ arming of Israel. We must also resist the fascist ICE raids on our immigrant communities and end the attacks on Black and brown people everywhere.”