Originally Posted by PROF
"TLV is the most nakedly racist airport on the planet. Passengers are given stickers according in part to their ethnicity. Anyone with an Arabic or Muslim name (irrespective of nationality, profession, age etc) is plastered with red stickers and is subjected to an intimate search of his or her belongings in full view of all the other passengers, and then assigned a minder who will be attached like a limpet and only detach once the passenger is through passport control. The only people who can enjoy Tel Aviv and its beaches and restaurants are those who are willing and able to turn a blind eye to such violent racism, of which the airport security practices are only the mildest incarnation."
Have you even been to TLV? Do you even know anything about TLV besides what you may or may not have heard on the Television? It is nothing like that and you are blowing it WAY out of proportion! First of all, I have to assume that you mean Israelis are racist because an airport is NOT a person and therefore cannot be racist! Next, the stickers can mean different things for different people. Many Americans who travel there often on holiday with their families and who are Jewish are given long interviews. They may ask questions that to YOU seem stupid, but are there to protect your sorry a** from being in bits and pieces after a idiot terrorist tries to blow up a plane. The sorry fact is that many fanatical muslims live only to see the Jews and the Jewish state destroyed! Why? It's completely beyond me!
And yes, Israel racially profiles. But it's not as simple as "oh youre a muslim, prepare for a full cavity search..."
They do it for a reason and they do it to protect passengers from VERY REAL threats (i.e. not knitting kits!)
However, Israel has an obligation to keep Israelis, Americans, British, Germans, French, Italians, Spanish, and people from ALL NATIONALITIES (and yes that includes Muslims) safe from harm. The Israeli government values life and does not condone people blowing themselves up or hijacking a plane. If that means you are going to be offended or inconvenienced by having to show up to the airport early and answer some questions, then dont go there! Fact is, that Israel advises all airports in the world on how to keep their passengers safe. They have a great record and you have no reason to criticize it!
As to the 'intimate' search of belongings... I have had those done in the UK! As long as they touch my dirty laundry and not I, what do I care? And there are no minders! Where did you get that BS?
It's not racism! It's protecting passengers from harm's way. If it inconveniences you, fly a Gulfstream to Israel or don't go at all!
Originally Posted by FF
Gosh! Even more racist than Saudi Arabia and many other Middle Eastern countries where anyone who is Jewish isn't allowed into the country, period? And spare a thought at this time of year for Christians in Saudi Arabia who want to attend Easter church services - they can't, because churches aren't allowed in that country.
I won't go on, for fear of breaching this board's T&Cs, which you seem to be perilously close to doing.
AMEN TO THAT
Add to the list: Syria, Iran, Iraq, Lybia, Malaysia, (until recently the UAE) and many other muslim nations. They won't even let you on the plane!
Not that I would want to go to a nation where women can't drive, need permission to leave the country from THEIR HUSBANDS, and you can be beheaded in the middle of Riyadh for being gay
Soo convenient how CNN and the BBC ignore that one, eh?