In the Palestinian territories, both the West Bank and Gaza Strip, Arabs are explicitly treated as second-class human beings. Worse is Gaza, essentially an open air prison ruled by extremist Hamas, isolated from the world and a humanitarian tragedy intensified by Israeli policy. Christian pilgrims regularly travel to Israel, straying into the West Bank only to visit storied tourist spots, such as Bethlehem. The policy pervades the Israeli policy and politics. Moreover, blowback is an enormous problem, resulting in terrorist attacks against the US Being seen as underwriting and guaranteeing an apartheid-like occupation of the West Bank increases Americans’ vulnerability abroad.