By Miri
At least since 09/11
boarding an airplane became a pretty lengthy procedure. Boarding an
airplane in order to enter or leave Israel, especially (but not only)
as a foreigner and even worse as an Arab or Muslim, has always been a
“special” experience. Israeli airline security is notorious for
being one of the toughest of all, and in some airports, flights going
out to Israel even have a separate terminal.
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Israeli activists welcoming the Flytilla at Ben Gurion Airport, Photo ActiveStills |
Lately, with the
“Welcome to Palestine” initiative, during which a total number
of 1,200 international activists intended to enter Israel through Ben
Gurion Airport and openly voice their intention “to visit
Palestine”, the policies regarding entry into Israel have gotten
under increased scrutiny and criticism. 600 out of the 1,200 Flytilla
activists had reportedly received notifications from their airlines
that their flights were canceled.
On a similar account a Swedish
woman, trying to get into Israel through the Taba crossing from
Egypt, was refused entry unless she signed a document committing
herself to “avoid contact with members of any pro Palestinian
organization” and to “not participate in any pro Palestinian
activities”.
But it is not just people who openly state an
intention to visit Palestine, or who engage in what Israeli
authorities consider actions that deligitimise Israel, or that
constitute a threat to Israel's security, who are being subjected to
these kind of procedures.
One day after the
Flytilla event, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz revealed that 40% of those passengers that were blacklisted by the
Shin Bet (Israel's internal security) beforehand, were actually added
to those lists without any information regarding their connection to any pro-Palestinian protest activity.
Admitting the mistake, officials of Israel's Foreign Ministry were quoted as saying that “direct damage” had been done “to
tourism and to Israel's good name”.
This shows that the Shin Bet is
by far not as knowledgeable as it tries to appear, and also how
arbitrary border security can be.
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You may want to consider changing outfit before entering Israel... |
Certain attributes or
characteristics of visitors to Israel are considered to be suspicious
to the security personnel and may prompt them to target you for
further investigations before you even open your mouth. These
attributes include Arabic or Muslim origin or appearance, including
names, previous visits to countries considered to be enemy states,
certain types of clothing that are associated with radical leftist
political mindsets, i.e. punks, anarchists and the like, as well as
people, specifically men, of certain age groups (from 19 towards mid
30s) travelling alone.
The next step is constituted by the question about the intention
of your visit to Israel. Although not an official policy, stating
that you cooperate with political pro-Palestinian organisations or
individuals, will definitely get you into trouble, and is therefore
not recommendable. Saying that you are planning to visit the occupied
territories is likely to raise suspicions, but you may pass as an
interested, but harmless tourist. However, as the above mentioned example
shows, there is no guarantee for anything, so even if you say that
you are a dedicated Christian intending to visit the holy sites in
Israel, you may be subjected to “a special treatment”.

Taken that you are a harmless tourist
and that the authorities do not have any previous records or
information on you, you should be fine.
Bon Voyage!
Bon Voyage!
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