BlueEyedDevil

I'm gay so I don't feel comfortable traveling to a country where homosexuality is illegal. The idea that sharing a kiss with my boyfriend in a beautiful exotic location could get me grabbed and thrown in a foreign prison is some serious nightmare fuel.

Thankfully, the only major destinations that impacts are Egypt, Dubai, and Singapore. I'm sure they'll modernize before too long so I'll just visit the dozens of other cities I want to see first.

EricR111

Given that most tourists to Israel are not Jewish, that cannot be the reason. Often times, people are stopped due to tips from anti-terrorist intelligence about which the public (for obvious reasons) are not told. Once my sister (we are Jewish) was flying with a non-Jewish female friend of hers who lived in Europe. It turns out (this was shortly after Lockerbie), that Israeli intelligence had a tip about a flight to the destination they were going to, where a blond European woman with a Palestinian boy friend would (likely unkowingly) bring a bomb on the plane - as occurred with PanAM 103. Her friend was held for a number of hours and had to miss the flight. It sucks, but you can thank the Jihadists for this, not the Israelis.

GUWonder

It helps when getting the facts right, but the above post is mixing in fictional elements into the narrative above.

For example, PanAm 103 was perpetrated by an anti-"jihadists" -- unless whipping up a version of "jihadists" that includes those who are fans/attendees of former Italian PM Berlusconi's "bunga bunga" sex parties and were rehabilitated on the international scene by the Clinton-Blair, Bush-Blair and Bush-Brown Anglo-American governmental teams.

Israeli authorities at TLV target non-jewish passengers on the basis of religion and/or ethnicity. To deny facts and spin fictions doesn't really sell well to everybody, as fooling all of the people all of the time just doesn't work. Not all of the harassment is based upon substantive, non-prejudicial information.

PTravel

Wow. Not too much dislike for Israel, I see. You do know that Libya was behind the PanAm 103 bombing, right?

GUWonder

Indeed. I actually advise people to visit Israel because it is a great place for tourists and businesspersons who are fortunate enough not to get hassled by some of the worst of the nonsense done in the name of "security". Unfortunately, not all people who could enjoy Israel will end up enjoying Israel when subject to some of the nonsense done in the name of "security" there -- "security" nonsense that is conducted on a prejudicial basis.

To answer your question, isn't the answer obvious that I indeed do know that Libya was involved? To informed persons, it ought to be obvious given the multiple indications (pointing toward Libya/Qaddafi) which I had provided in the post of mine which you quoted. Anyone who knows the history of Qaddafi's relationship with the US and Europe during the Clinton-Blair, Bush-Blair and Bush-Brown years and also before that ought to have a clue that: (a) PA 103/Lockerbie bombing was perpetrated by Libya/Qaddafi; and (b) Qaddafi was no more a religious "jihadist" than his party-friend (the Catholic former Italian Prime Minister) Berlusconi.

The jihadists -- Osama bin Laden most certainly -- hated Qaddafi for being secular; and Qaddafi was part of the Bush-Blair/Bush-Brown anti-jihadist coalition.

mandolino

I guess I'm either fortunate or have different definitions of "hassle" "worst" and "nonsense".

Also, I think people need to ask what the role of the Four Tops and Johnny Rotten was in Pan Am 103.

It's possible the "blonde girlfriend" theme was misremembered from the Hindawi affair - but does indicate why they don't just look at the "obvious" targets.

GUWonder

The Hindawi-Irish girlfriend affair was recognized after the luggage was already screened and flagged down -- that luggage flagging was a result of checking luggage for contraband WEIs and didn't require approaching people in prejudiced or non-prejudiced ways.

mandolino

Israeli security does appear to use profiling though - call it prejudice or statistical analysis, but it seems practised in a lot more sophisticated way than targeting non-Jews, or waiting to see if they find something in the luggage.

Non of my staff flying in and out, not a Jew amongst them, reported any kind of hassle other than the usual polite and professional questioning in the 18 months we worked our contract in Israel. That doesn't prove anything much, but neither does one individual's perception of anti-goy bias based on his/her own experiences.

ironmanjt

The Peoples Republic of Maryland...their drivers scare me

GUWonder

The prejudiced can always try to use statistics to try to defend their or their favorites' prejudices. WEI interdiction (even beyond airports) and hardened anti-commandeering means are more than sufficient to provide for in-flight security. Israeli "security" practices that seem to be allowed to exist under Israeli law are a reason some people may wish to avoid TLV or may have some ambivalence about trips to TLV.

mandolino

I guess they don't have to defend what they do to anyone except the Israeli nation.
Then maybe airport users from elsewhere but I and my colleagues didn't have any issues with their security procedures and practices.

They've been doing it since before most other nations discovered the reality of aircraft and airport terrorism and I'd say the results speak for themselves. I'm sure they'll be interested in your expertise in WEI and hardened anti-commandeering though.

TheLinguist

Why is it such a big deal to have finger prints taken? I am not sure why a collection of this data to enter a country is such a big deal. Could somebody fill me in on what the big issue is?

Spiff

It's an invasion of privacy and it's an act that normally only takes place when one is accused of a crime. What exactly is done with this data? The country won't tell you.

I'll spend my money in countries that don't treat me like a criminal, thank you very much.

UA Fan

A mountain out of a molehill.

Spiff

Disagree completely and I'll spend my money as I see fit.