DEIR DIBWAN, West Bank — As a member of Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s traveling press pool this week, I had an up-close view as America’s top diplomat swung through the Middle East to meet with three presidents in three cities in just three days. But it was Maisoon Ali, a Palestinian-American bank employee in the West Bank, whose story stood out to me.
Ali, 56, lives down the street from where Blinken met on Tuesday with Palestinian civil society workers in Deir Dibwan, an upscale neighborhood east of Ramallah that is surrounded by Jewish settlements. The area is home to many Palestinian-Americans who, despite their US passports, face onerous restrictions on their travel.