Tafakji, like almost all other Palestinians in occupied East Jerusalem, is a "permanent resident," but not a citizen of Israel.
...He said in a phone interview on 4 February that he had just returned 20 days previously from a tour of a number of countries, from Tunisia to Turkey to India....
...the Palestinian Authority's chief geographer ... said he did not know of any other person who has been handed such a travel ban.
Tafakji, surprised at the development, said that "Yesterday they [Israeli authorities] called me and said come to Moskobiyya [the "Russian Compound" security complex in West Jerusalem] -- Room 4. They said 'This is an order, sign it, you have 14 days to make an objection. It is forbidden for you to travel from today for six months.'"
When asked if he will contest the travel ban, Tafakji said that he has been in constant consultation with lawyers, who have all said that since the explanation he was given was only the generic -- but all-encompassing -- "security reasons," it is almost hopeless to contest.
..."We are trying, through relations with Jordan and Egypt, America, Britain and France, to see if we can do anything" to remove the restriction, Tafakji said.
He told the privately-owned and operated Maan News Agency in Bethlehem that "I am a peace man," and noted that he worked as a cartographic expert with Palestinian delegations to peace talks since they began in the early 1990s.
...Tafakji heads the Arab Studies Society's Mapping and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Department. Full story
He told the privately-owned and operated Maan News Agency in Bethlehem that "I am a peace man," and noted that he worked as a cartographic expert with Palestinian delegations to peace talks since they began in the early 1990s.
...Tafakji heads the Arab Studies Society's Mapping and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Department. Full story
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