An award-winning Palestinian journalist is being prevented from entering the United States to deliver a series of lectures next month. Mohammed Omer had applied for a visa through the US consulate. But organizers of Omer’s lecture tour say the application has been put on extended hold, indefinitely barring him without explanation. In June 2008, Omer was awarded the Martha Gellhorn award, given to journalists who expose establishment propaganda. On his way back to the Gaza Strip, Israeli forces detained him and physically and psychologically abused him for over twelve hours.