Immigration at TLV
Aug 10, 2014, 9:12 am
#16
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: Dubai
Posts: 3,301
I had Yemen, Afghanistan, Bahrain, Qatar, UAE stamps etc. in my passport when I entered Israel. This was at Allenby bridge, not TLV though. Had to wait 20 minutes before a quick 5 minute interview. Then got my visa and was on my way.
They will ask you if you are travelling to the West Bank though, which might extend the questioning a bit.
They will ask you if you are travelling to the West Bank though, which might extend the questioning a bit.
Aug 10, 2014, 10:01 am
#17
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Many prominent Israeli Arabs have been harassed, including Hebrew University professors, a foreign service officer and children of Knesset members and Supreme Court Justices. Yet, you know better.
I waited maybe 3 times in my entire life more than 10 minutes on the line as a whole...
Aug 10, 2014, 10:20 am
#18
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Many prominent Israeli Arabs have been harassed, including Hebrew University professors, a foreign service officer and children of Knesset members and Supreme Court Justices. Yet, you know better.
The experience of a pale complected, Hebrew speaking, kippah wearing, orthodox Jewish IDF reserve officer - all based on your posting history - is irrelevant to the OP's situation.
Regardless, it is absolutely relevant if you read what I posted. Whether I wear a kippa or a keffiyeh; whether I'm Jewish, Christian of Muslim; whether I did IDF or IS - none of that has any bearing on how long I wait in line to see someone. That would only have bearing on how long it takes to process me personally. Which is why I specifically said "I waited <snip> on the line" and not "dealt with an officer."
Meaning, all the people in front of me are not taking forever to be processed. Even Arabs. Even people with "suspect" stamps.
Aug 10, 2014, 10:28 am
#19
Join Date: Jun 2003
Posts: 189
I don't have a dog in this hunt, but I suppose my experience was out of the ordinary, as we were the only non-muslim, non-arab passengers pulled out of line. As soon as the young lady checking passports spotted the no-no stamps, she dropped her smile and pointed to the penalty box, where we were harassed for several hours. Incidentally, once admitted, we loved the country, especially Jerusalem.
Aug 10, 2014, 10:39 am
#20
Join Date: Oct 2012
Posts: 377
The experience of a pale complected, Hebrew speaking, kippah wearing, orthodox Jewish IDF reserve officer - all based on your posting history - is irrelevant to the OP's situation.
BTW, if you look through his posts you will see how he was once treated when returning to America:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trave...l#post23320498
I look forward to seeing your derogatory and bigoted comments about Americans .....
Aug 10, 2014, 11:03 am
#21
Moderator: Travel Safety/Security, Travel Tools, California, Los Angeles; FlyerTalk Evangelist
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The OP has not told us anything about himself, only about his passport stamps. Judging from his "posting history", he is a well-traveled American, and as other people here (and many on on other forums) have pointed out, these passport stamps are not a reason to bar entry. It is YOU that are making assumptions about ethnicity, colour and/or religion.
Secondly, the OP's signature has a link to his blog. I perused it before posting.
BTW, if you look through his posts you will see how he was once treated when returning to America:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trave...l#post23320498
I look forward to seeing your derogatory and bigoted comments about Americans .....
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trave...l#post23320498
I look forward to seeing your derogatory and bigoted comments about Americans .....
That's because the usual suspects are pulled out of line and processed elsewhere.
Last edited by TWA884; Aug 10, 2014 at 11:09 am
Aug 10, 2014, 3:28 pm
#22
Join Date: Oct 2012
Posts: 377
The travel pattern described in that post is consistent with smuggling, which explains the Customs and Border Protection officers actions.
Aug 10, 2014, 6:08 pm
#23
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: Sometimes in Chicago.
Posts: 128
I was interrogated by a teenager for 30 minutes on the places I had visited (Turkey, Bali, Dubai, Oman, Malaysia…) to the point where the entire exchange became humorous: http://www.esmetravels.com/ben-gurion-airport/.
Aug 10, 2014, 9:20 pm
#24
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Want some more? Here you go:
Aug 10, 2014, 9:35 pm
#25
Join Date: Jun 2008
Posts: 4,187
OP, you haven't indicated your citizenship. If you are a US citizen, you might be well advised simply to get a second passport. See http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/94669.pdf
Aug 10, 2014, 9:54 pm
#26
Moderator: Travel Safety/Security, Travel Tools, California, Los Angeles; FlyerTalk Evangelist
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A few more:
Stern security at Ben-Gurion Airport questioned
Foreign Ministry Arab cadet humiliated at airport
Arab teacher strip-searched before flying with her Jewish students
Israel airport security demands access to tourists' private email accounts
Sidelined lawmaker watches Arabs, Jews drift apart
Arab Labor MK says airport security 'humiliated' her children
Aggressive questioning, long luggage examinations and strip searches are not uncommon at Israel’s national airport
Foreign Ministry Arab cadet humiliated at airport
Jubran, 26, the first Israeli Arab ever to complete a Foreign Ministry cadet training course, was asked by security personnel at the airports to prove that her Ministry employee documents were authentic and that her father was indeed a Supreme Court justice.
Arab teacher strip-searched before flying with her Jewish students
Shehadeh, a Christian Arab who was born in Safed and has taught tourism at a Jewish high school in Tirat Carmel for 19 years, was returning from a school trip to Eilat with her students.
As soon as she reached the security screening station, she was separated from her students and treated like an arch-terrorist.
At Ben-Gurion International Airport, before the flight to Eilat, she was singled out for special attention from security but not to the same extent as in Eilat for the return flight. Shehadeh relates that she flashed her teachers’ union membership card, the inspectors recognized that she was Arab but gave her a boarding pass without any problem — or so she thought. A few minutes later, she was called back to the screening station. Her purse and suitcase were emptied out, she was instructed to remove her shoes and her rings, and her cellphone was whisked away for inspection.
Nobody else on the flight was treated that way, she says.
<snip>
Shehadeh is not alone. Over the past few years, we have heard many accounts of Arab citizens of the State of Israel who undergo this kind of humiliation regularly.
As soon as she reached the security screening station, she was separated from her students and treated like an arch-terrorist.
At Ben-Gurion International Airport, before the flight to Eilat, she was singled out for special attention from security but not to the same extent as in Eilat for the return flight. Shehadeh relates that she flashed her teachers’ union membership card, the inspectors recognized that she was Arab but gave her a boarding pass without any problem — or so she thought. A few minutes later, she was called back to the screening station. Her purse and suitcase were emptied out, she was instructed to remove her shoes and her rings, and her cellphone was whisked away for inspection.
Nobody else on the flight was treated that way, she says.
<snip>
Shehadeh is not alone. Over the past few years, we have heard many accounts of Arab citizens of the State of Israel who undergo this kind of humiliation regularly.
Israel airport security demands access to tourists' private email accounts
Israel's Shin Bet security service has been demanding access to personal email accounts of visiting tourists with Arab names, according to the testimony of three U.S. citizens who were interrogated at Ben Gurion Airport and subsequently refused entry into Israel in May.
<snip>
The first part of the interrogation began with questions like: "Do you feel more Arab or more American?" (to which the interrogator supplied her own answer: "Surely you must feel a little more Arab."), "Will you go to Al-Aqsa?” and "Why are you coming now for the third time? You can go to Venezuela, to Mexico, to Canada. It is much closer to New York, and much less expensive!”
<snip>
Then, according to Doughman, her interrogator said, "Okay, we are going to do something very interesting now!” As Doughman describes it, the harsh stare on the security woman's face gave way to a slight smirk. She typed www.gmail.com on her computer, turned the keyboard toward Doughman and demanded that she log in to her personal email account.
Doughman said she that, while she was taken aback, it did not occur to her to refuse, despite the fact that this was clearly not a reasonable request.
After some five hours of questioning, Doughman and her friend were forced to wait another three hours, after which they were told that they would be refused entry into Israel. Accompanied by a heavy cadre of security people, they were led to another part of Ben Gurion Airport, where they were photographed and their bags were searched meticulously down to the smallest objects.
Their computers and iPads were passed, twice, through an explosives-detection machine. Then they were given body searches behind a curtain.
<snip>
A third American citizen, who preferred that her name not be published, was also refused entry in May after refusing to allow airport security personnel to access her personal email account. She was also told that she must have something to hide.
A similar case was reported in October of 2011.
<snip>
The first part of the interrogation began with questions like: "Do you feel more Arab or more American?" (to which the interrogator supplied her own answer: "Surely you must feel a little more Arab."), "Will you go to Al-Aqsa?” and "Why are you coming now for the third time? You can go to Venezuela, to Mexico, to Canada. It is much closer to New York, and much less expensive!”
<snip>
Then, according to Doughman, her interrogator said, "Okay, we are going to do something very interesting now!” As Doughman describes it, the harsh stare on the security woman's face gave way to a slight smirk. She typed www.gmail.com on her computer, turned the keyboard toward Doughman and demanded that she log in to her personal email account.
Doughman said she that, while she was taken aback, it did not occur to her to refuse, despite the fact that this was clearly not a reasonable request.
After some five hours of questioning, Doughman and her friend were forced to wait another three hours, after which they were told that they would be refused entry into Israel. Accompanied by a heavy cadre of security people, they were led to another part of Ben Gurion Airport, where they were photographed and their bags were searched meticulously down to the smallest objects.
Their computers and iPads were passed, twice, through an explosives-detection machine. Then they were given body searches behind a curtain.
<snip>
A third American citizen, who preferred that her name not be published, was also refused entry in May after refusing to allow airport security personnel to access her personal email account. She was also told that she must have something to hide.
A similar case was reported in October of 2011.
Sidelined lawmaker watches Arabs, Jews drift apart
While many of Israel's Arabs remain estranged from the state, Hilou's life has been dedicated to changing the system from within. She was born in the coastal town Jaffa, just south of Tel Aviv, in 1953, five years after most of its Arab population fled or was expelled in the fighting that surrounded Israel's creation.
She earned two degrees at Israeli universities, held a string of influential positions in government offices and women's organizations, and eventually joined the once-dominant but fading Labor Party.
<snip>
Hilou has had many opportunities, she said, but she and her family still face the humiliations of Arab life in Israel.
Her twin daughters, she said, were recently "treated like terrorists" at Israel's international airport, and her son-in-law saw an engineering job opening mysteriously disappear when the potential employer saw the Arab name on his CV.
She earned two degrees at Israeli universities, held a string of influential positions in government offices and women's organizations, and eventually joined the once-dominant but fading Labor Party.
<snip>
Hilou has had many opportunities, she said, but she and her family still face the humiliations of Arab life in Israel.
Her twin daughters, she said, were recently "treated like terrorists" at Israel's international airport, and her son-in-law saw an engineering job opening mysteriously disappear when the potential employer saw the Arab name on his CV.
Arab Labor MK says airport security 'humiliated' her children
In her letter, Hilou said she intends to complain about how the airport's security officers treated her twin daughters last Sunday when they flew for a holiday in Prague. The two women - both studying for their master's degrees - were taken aside where their luggage was thoroughly frisked in plain sight of other passengers, Hilou said.
Last edited by TWA884; Aug 10, 2014 at 10:08 pm
Aug 10, 2014, 11:47 pm
#27
Join Date: Oct 2012
Posts: 377
Unlike you, everything that I have posted is backed by news articles, not blog posts or my imagination.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/12/us...anted=all&_r=0
https://www.aclu.org/racial-justice/...ng-while-black
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/...d196_blog.html
http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2009/04/22/71197.html
http://www.nbcnews.com/id/44334738/n.../#.U-hYxfmSwqg
Sexual profiling:
http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/clay-ni...b_3112638.html
and in Britain:
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk...a-2084743.html
http://www.theguardian.com/commentis...ritish-airport
http://schedule7stories.com/
Last edited by mbgg; Aug 11, 2014 at 12:24 am
Aug 11, 2014, 1:18 am
#28
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Dec 2009
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First of all, I made no assumptions of the OP's ethnicity, complexion or religion. I just pointed out that pale complected, Hebrew speaking orthodox Jews are not likely to be singled out for harassment as Arabs, Muslims or those who traveled to countries associated with terrorism.
The travel pattern described in that post is consistent with smuggling, which explains the Customs and Border Protection officers actions.
If I were to contact a news reporters, it would be about the latter and not the former. Yet that would hardly indicate a trend of any sort
That's because the usual suspects are pulled out of line and processed elsewhere.
I was interrogated by a teenager for 30 minutes on the places I had visited (Turkey, Bali, Dubai, Oman, Malaysia…) to the point where the entire exchange became humorous: http://www.esmetravels.com/ben-gurion-airport/.
Unlike you, everything that I have posted is backed by news articles, not blog posts or my imagination.
Want some more? Here you go:
Want some more? Here you go:
Aug 11, 2014, 11:27 am
#29
Moderator: Travel Safety/Security, Travel Tools, California, Los Angeles; FlyerTalk Evangelist
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Posting multiple articles doesn't even come close to indicating a statistical trend, because people who have bad experiences invariably write about them and then exaggerate them. To make the claims you do, you'd need actual numbers. Which is exactly why my experiences are more important because they indicate visual comparison of how many are pulled or rejected entry versus not.
Knesset Member Adi Kol, who chaired a Knesset Finance Committee meeting on the issue, got it right. MK Kol said that she found the responses by security officials “frustrating,” particularly their denial that there is a problem.
Aug 11, 2014, 12:47 pm
#30
Join Date: Oct 2012
Posts: 377
Keep being in denial.
It is quite obvious that you are Orthodox.