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.

Ali spent over 30 years in northern Virginia before moving to the West Bank to care for her elderly father. She paid close attention as Blinken met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other Israeli officials in Jerusalem this week. 

“Mr. Secretary of State told Netanyahu, ‘I would like to see the Palestinians have equal rights.’ Well, I'm telling him: give me my equal rights. Let me be treated like any other Israeli,” Ali said.