In June, AAA joined Human Rights Watch and the Middle East Studies Association in writing a letter to the Department of State regarding Israel’s refusal to allow students, specifically seven Palestinian Fulbright recipients, in Gaza to travel abroad for further education. Israeli officials carried out security checks on the seven Gazans, but according to the NY Times, only granted four of them travel permits. The remaining three Fulbright scholars were determined to have links to Hamas and denied permits. American consular officials will interview these scholars, and, if they don’t raise any alarms, grant them visas and pressure Israel to allow them to leave. The Fulbright controversy has compelled the Israeli government to let more Gazan students with foreign study grants to leave the region, but more progress still needs to be made.
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