not wanting to hijack the thread but I'm considering a trip to Israel in the coming months and have heard mixed things regarding passport stamps and Israel. My current stamps are Turkey, several from USA, Syria, Jordan, Egypt, Tunisia, Cuba. The middle eastern stamps are related to academic visits and my Israel trip would be for academic reasons too, although I'll likely book it as a BA holiday so that I get a flight and hotel package. As long as I can demonstrate my academic reasons for visiting those countries (I suppose most specifically Syria) should I be ok?