Children of terror victims unable to travel to U.S. due to stringent visa

[donsu]

http://web.israelinsider.com/bin/en.jsp?enPage=ArticlePage&enDisplay=view&enDispWhat=object&enDispWho=Article%5El2499&enZone=Diplomacy&enVersion=0

Almog and Batel Haddad, aged 5 and 9, whose mother Rikki was killed in a terror attack, were forced to turn down a vacation offer sponsored by the Los Angeles Jewish community after their visa requests were rejected by the United States Embassy in Tel Aviv. The visa application of Bat-El Keshet was turned down as well because the income level of Israeli citizens is now a consideration in U.S. visa applications.


Almog and Batel, from the northern town of Yokneam, lost their mother Rikki in a suicide bombing in Haifa. The two children were "adopted" by the Jewish community of Los Angeles through the efforts of an organization providing assistance to families of terror victims. Students of the Rambam academy there have maintained contact with the Haddad children and invited them and their father for an all-expenses paid trip to their city this spring. Days before the scheduled trip, the Haddad's application for a U.S. visa was rejected because Mickey Haddad's income as a carpenter was too low.

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Bat-El Keshet was also denied entry into the U.S.; her visa application was rejected due to her mother's low monthly income, Maariv reported.

"It is inconceivable that a 12-year-old girl should suffer from discrimination simply because of her economic situation," Bat-El's mother Avital Keshet said. "She's not going to live there; she's traveling with a youth group on a one-week trip. We succeeded in getting the money together for the trip so why does it bother them that we are not rich? The girl was emotionally hurt and doesn't understand why her friends are going and she is staying at home.
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yes, we have warped to a different diminsion