Committee of Concerned Scientists

An international non-profit organization of scientists, physicians, engineers and scholars dedicated to protecting the human rights and scientific freedom of our colleagues around the world.

An independent non-profit organization of scientists, physicians, engineers and scholars dedicated to protecting the human rights and scientific freedom of our colleagues around the world.

CCS Inquires About Complicated Process for VISAs for International Academics Teaching in West Bank Territories

Professors and lecturers who are employed at universities in the West Bank areas are facing complicated processes and harsh standards to obtain VISAs from Israel. They are finding the requests are denied, delayed or are granted for arbitrary periods of time that won’t allow for the completion of teaching contract requirements. CCS has written the Prime Minister of Israel requesting clarification of these requirements.

July 20, 2019

Benjamin Netanyahu
Prime Minister
Kiryat Ben Gurion, Building C
Jerusalem 91950, Israel

Dear Prime Minister Netanyahu:

The Committee of Concerned Scientists is an independent organization of scientists, physicians, engineers and scholars devoted to the protection and advancement of human rights and scientific freedom for colleagues all over the world.

We write to express our grave concern about your current VISA process and how it is applied to international academics who have been employed to teach at universities in the West Bank territories.

It has been reported that international professors and lecturers who are employed at these universities face increasingly harsh standards for obtaining a VISA that seem arbitrary in length with many being denied entry at all. Extensions of visas, we have heard, are either denied or delayed and are granted for arbitrary periods of time – many so short that they cannot complete their obligations to a classroom of students as they are forced to leave mid-way through a contract period or a semester or academic year. We have also been informed that instructors are required to deposit large guarantees, sometimes as much as $23,000 (equivalent in US dollars) which is almost prohibitive to many working in the education fields.

This makes it nearly impossible for many of these universities to continue to exist or to provide any quality education to their students, which we would think would be a major benefit to Israel, as well.

We would greatly appreciate your clarifying these requirements and the VISA policy for international academics so that we may better understand what is really happening as you encourage your neighbors to provide quality learning to their citizens.

We look forward to your response to the issues in this regard.

Sincerely,
Joel L. Lebowitz, Paul H. Plotz, Walter Reich, Eugene M. Chudnovsky, Alexander Greer
Co-Chairs, Committee of Concerned Scientists

Who We Are

Co-chairs

Joel L. Lebowitz, Rutgers University

Paul H. Plotz, M.D., Washington, DC

Walter Reich, George Washington University

Eugene Chudnovsky, Lehman College

Alexander Greer, Brooklyn College

Vice-chairs

Astronomy – Arno Penzias, New Enterprises Associates*

Biology – Max E. Gottesman, Columbia University

Chemistry – Zafra Lerman, MIMSAD Inc.

Computer Science – Rachelle Heller, The George Washington University

Computer Science – Jack Minker, University of Maryland, College Park

Engineering – Philip Sarachik, NYU Polytechnic School of Engineering

Mathematics – Simon Levin, Princeton University

Medical Sciences – J. Joseph Blum, Duke University

Honorary Board Members

Nancy Andrews, Duke University

David Baltimore, California Institute of Technology*

Alan J. Bard, University of Texas

Jacob Bigeleisen (deceased), SUNY, Stony Brook

Raoul Bott (deceased), Harvard University

Owen Chamberlain (deceased), University of California, Berkeley

Stanley Deser, Brandeis University

Edward Gerjuoy, University of Pittsburg

David Gross, (2004 Nobel Prize in Physics), Kavil Institute for Theoretical Physics, University of California, Santa Barbara*

Pierre Hohenberg (deceased), New York University

Walter Kohn (deceased), University of California, Santa Barbara*

James Langer, University of California, Santa Barbara

Peter Lax, New York University

Louis Nirenberg, New York University

Marshall Nirenberg (deceased), National Institutes of Health*

Honorary Board Members

John C. Polanyi, University of Toronto*

Stuart Rice, University of Chicago

Sir Richard J. Roberts, (1993 Nobel Prize in Physiology & Medicine), New England Biolabs*

Myriam Sarachick, City College of New York

Harold Scheraga, Cornell University

Sylvan Schweber (deceased), Brandeis University

Maxine Singer, Carnegie Institution of Washington

Alfred I. Tauber, Boston University

Steven Weinberg, University of Texas, Austin*

Myrna Weissman, Columbia University

Rosalyn S. Yalow (deceased), Mount Sinai School of Medicine*

* Nobel laureate

Committee of Concerned Scientists

c/o Alexandra R. Bender, Executive Director
P.O. Box 273
Mountainhome, PA 18342
Phone: (570) 994-2093
abender@concernedscientists.org