Pres Obama refuses to speak in the Knesset visit NOT POLITICAL, Students from univ in Samaria to be excluded from his speech.

Pres Obama refuses to speak in the Knesset visit NOT POLITICAL, Students from univ in Samaria to be excluded from his speech.HT: IsraelMatzav.

How's this for petty? President Hussein Obama is going to be speaking at the Binyanei HaUma convention center in Jerusalem (aside: What a traffic nightmare). Tickets are being distributed, mostly to university students. But there's one university whose students aren't getting any tickets: Ariel University in Samaria.

In a meeting Tuesday with students from Ariel University in Samaria (Shomron), MK Yoni Chetboun discovered that Ariel U students were not being allowed to attend.

Chetboun questioned the decision to exclude Ariel students, particularly in light of Obama’s decision not to speak in Knesset. Obama’s staff have previously stated that the American president will not address Knesset because his visit “is not political.” “The President’s decision not to speak in Israel’s house of representatives, the symbol and stronghold of Israeli democracy and sovereignty, is strange in itself and gives rise to questions,” Chetboun said. “There is no precedent for a visiting foreign leader addressing citizens directly.”

“However,” he continued, “these things are all the more strange due to inconsistency. On the one hand, the President says he intends for his visit to be apolitical, but in the same breath, he makes a political decision to exclude Ariel University from his speech.” “If the president invites students from every Israeli university, he should invite representatives from Ariel University as well,” Chetboun declared. Ignoring Ariel University is a sign of non-recognition of the Israeli government’s decision to give it university status, he said.

Chetboun has written to U.S. ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro in protest. “I cannot understand or accept your decision,” he wrote. “Ariel University was recognized as a university by Israel’s government. In excluding students from Ariel, the American government is taking a clear, one-sided stance, while declaring that the visit is not political.”

“As a Member of Knesset who was elected by Israelis from across the country, including Judea and Samaria, I want to believe that the decision came from the president’s staff and advisors, and not from the president himself,” Chetboun added. Student representatives from Ariel expressed frustration at the decision as well. “We were pretty shocked at the discrimination,” said Student Union head Shai Shachaf.

While the students may not be invited, “in any case we will be present in the area,” he added. Given his refusal to speak at the Knesset as well, maybe Obama is trying to avoid recognizing the State of Israel. If so, that should be deeply troubling to all Israelis, and not just to those on the Right who supported the decision to give Ariel university status.

I don't why we invited him, but maybe we can still retract....Hmmmm....The US President is visiting the Middle east and 'IT'S NOT POLITICAL?Why not put him on a tour bus if he's on holiday?Read the full story here.