rankourabu

During the unpleasant 3 hour interrogation on arrival I was asked what my religion was twice. This to me is harassment enough.

I take it you havent been to TLV secondary interrogation, so please dont tell how/if/why I was harassed and treated like a criminal.

rankourabu

oh no, now youre gonna be labeled anti-Israel for telling how it really is

Very amusing people defending the harassment that goes on in TLV who have never been thru it themselves ...

And like you say, I have no problem with how Israel handles their security, and with unwanted stamps in passport, and a 10-day vacation trip that noone forced us to go on, I knew I was setting myself up for scrutiny and perhaps even secondary. This doesnt take away from the fact, that harassment in TLV does happen, and it would be #1 on my do-not-transit list (topic of this thread)

And as for history, review mine and PTravel's post history, and see who is biased I especially recommend the thread about the girl who was told to cover up at the airport by Southwest, and his anti-islam rants in there I do not post in OMNI, but again, I urge you to check out the above poster's history there.

PTravel

No, you're going to be labeled anti-Israel because you're anti-Israel. It's easy to search OMNI/PR for your posts -- everyone can decide for themselves.

First you claimed you were harassed because of your religion. Then you admitted that you weren't asked about your religion until you were already in secondary. Which is it?

That's a flat-out lie on your part. I have never, not once, made an "anti-Islam rant," either here or anywhere else. Quite the contrary, my posting history is there for everyone to see: I have been a very vocal defender of Muslims, and always call out those who try to tar all of Islam with the terrorist brush based on the actions of a fanatic, extremist few.

You most certainly do post in OMNI. Here are two of the anti-Israel posts of yours to which I referred:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/14083669-post1531.html

I wonder what you meant about ABC News being "allowed" to publish the story? I can certainly guess.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/14053755-post342.html

Now, perhaps, you can climb down off your soap box and the rest of us can get back to an otherwise-interesting discussion.

rankourabu

1. and yet we chose to go there on vacation, weird.
2. being asked one's religion at an outset of an interrogation and being held for 3 hours following that, yes, I classify that as cause and effect

glad you found my only 2 OMNI posts from 3+ years ago.... I am glad that attack on Iran didnt happen, because I quite enjoyed visiting there, as I did Israel - after the initial 'scrutiny' we had a great time.

Unlike you, I dont have a horse in this race, I am only reporting my experiences while visiting the country, you on the other hand will not accept any criticism of Israel (see thread below)

and one only has to go thru your pro-Israeli bias posts to realize you will never admit that people are harassed at TLV.
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/omni-...l#post20967697
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/omni-...er-outfit.html "No woman EVER "asks for it," solely because of how she dresses in public, notwithstanding the views of fundamentalist Islamic societies."


I wish you one day have to go thru somewhere what I went thru in TLV, then maybe you will climb down your soap-box and admit its not the best transit airport

Jasper2009

[Unduly personalized remarks deleted by Moderator.]

Having been to Israel a few times I can confirm that secondary inspections - which I have had the "pleasure" to experience - definitely are no fun, but I wouldn´t call them harrassment. Israel has decided to implement a very sophisticated security system that includes evaluating the risk level of each indiviual passenger - and so far it has worked great.

rankourabu

I'll definitely agree with you there - if one has something to hide - there is no way of getting past them. They are VERY good at what they do.

If you have nothing to hide, its actually a very interesting learning experience once you step back and relax and let them go thru the motions.

which goes back to - its not a transit airport

TA

didn't intend this to go so in depth and possibly heated with disagreements. Maybe we can keep it friendly and to the original question? New thoughts, any others?

Jasper2009

Personally I avoid travel to any country that doesn´t recognize Israel (many - but not all - of these countries have policies/laws which prohibit anyone with an Israeli stamp in their passport to enter the country, so I´m inadmissable anyways).

I also can´t get too excited about most countries that used to comprise the Soviet Union (though that doesn´t mean I wouldn´t visit a few of them) due to the lack of separation of powers.

Maybe I´ll become slightly less conservative once I´ve visited the 100+ countries I actually do want to visit.

GUWonder

People and things do get past them despite their efforts.

I was likely to agree with the above sentence, but then earlier this month I read something -- to which I provided a response that has since been moved to who knows where -- that has me now questioning the above characterization.

People have different reasons to want to travel or avoid travel to/via a place, and some of that has to do with how authorities deal with passengers. I try to minimize travel via the UK since I don't like dealing with the additional security nonsense more than I otherwise have to do. I prefer minimizing transiting the US because I don't fancy dealing more with DHS/TSA and CBP more than minimally necessary while meeting my other interests. I certainly wouldn't suggest that TLV transits are ideal for all, and I have done some.

PTravel

I don't know to what you're referring, so I really can't respond except in the most general sense. It's no secret that I disapprove of all organized religions because they supplant inherent and instinctive understanding of genetically-transmitted universal values with external, arbitrary and often-illogical external moralities. In that regard, I fault Islam along with every other organized religion. I also believe that, on the whole, religious fundamentalism tends to be dangerous. However, again, my belief applies to all religious belief and not solely to fundamentalist (and, perhaps, "extremist" is a better term) Islam. Other than that, I haven't the slightest idea to what you're referring.

CDTraveler

ROTFL!

buggysmama

um just because you do not agree with someone's personal reasons for not travelling to a particular place does not mean that you have to personally attack the person.

It seems to me that there are a few common reasons for why one would not want to travel to a particular location:
1. religion
2. politics
3. restrictive or overly cumbersome customs and immigration laws, regulations, and procedures
4. medical
5. legal
6. your home country's government has put restrictions on its citizens travelling to place X, although that probably falls within the legal category.

invisible

Good morning, Dr. Sheldon Cooper.

JMN57

Geez - I had noticed this thread and thought it an odd one as I'd somehow read it as "will you not visit/transit a place because in laws"

My brain finally kicked in and read it correctly.

mandolino

Your version makes more sense though! (God bless my elderly MiL, I hasten to add, and may she live a long and prosperous life)