Comments for Bad Day at the Israel-Jordan Border at http://essentialgeneva.com , comment 1 to 21 out of 20 comments http://essentialgeneva.com Wed, 10 Mar 2010 21:51:14 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.2 http://essentialgeneva.com/Bad-Day-at-the-Israel-Jordan-Border.html#comment-89 I spent two summers teaching at The Hebrew University in Jerusalem. My first trip into Ben Gurion I was held up in security at Tel-Aviv for 12 hours, despite paperwork from the University explaining the purpose of my visit along w/ contact info for my sponsor, without access to any food and only a water fountain to use. But what really disturbed me is that there was a family of American-Palestinians, going to visit their relations, who were in the security holding area when I got there and there when I left – and they were not provided anything beyond this same water fountain either. There is overt intimidation to discourage certain people from going to the Israel. I appreciate that there are very real security concerns, but this is way too often used as an excuse to forward morally bankrupt political, social, religious, and ethnic agendas. I have many Israeli & Jewish friends, but my first experience in Israel is only one of many sad truths about the land. - SR Tue, 22 Dec 2009 08:09:09 +0100 http://essentialgeneva.com/Bad-Day-at-the-Israel-Jordan-Border.html#comment-87 As both an Israeli and a Jew, one can likely take many of my opinions for granted. However as one born outside of Israel and one who is not a Zionist, over the years I've learnt a lot about both sides... This article is very well written, but is unfortunately a whitewash of emotive language, inaccurate imagery and well... misperceptions. I'm sorry to say it, I know it's going to cop a lot of flack, but lets look at a few basic points: 1. "la falastiniyeen!" means "for the Palestinians" not "No Palestinians" Lets not put hateful words in anyone's mouth when what's really going on is simple misinterpretation. 2. Israel's borders are patrolled by Israel's army... NOT teenagers in skinny jeans. In all likelihood you were stopped by an 18 or more likely 19 year old girl, wearing tight khakis... given that soldiers are punished for being out of uniform like in any other army. 3. Joking with border security no matter where you are, particularly cynically or sarcastically is rarely a good call... I as an Australian have been interrogated by AUSTRALIAN border security because I had come from Israel and joked with the border guards about my being middle eastern. Just not a fantastic idea... Not in Australia, Not in the US and not in Israel... attitude does not get you far in these situations 4. You being "just an American girl" is obviously selling yourself and your gender short... you are no less capable as a writer than any man, no less capable as a journalist, no less capable as a student and no less capable as a terrorist. Suicide bombers in Israel have come in all shapes, sizes, colours and genders... saying "well I'm just a college girl" is a cop out and you know it 5. As previously mentioned, lard is unlikely to appear on the list of ingredients of any biscuits you'll find in Israel... what with jews having a strict no pig policy and commercial lard being rendered primarily from pigs. Butter is far more common. Your story is awful, I'd hate to have it happen to me... and I wouldn't wish it upon anyone... but at the end of the day, when you live in Israel there are people who are with you, people who are against you and people who are just passing through... the problem is that when people who are just passing through seem to be unusually interested in the people who are against you, sometimes it's hard to tell the difference without really understanding a person... and the border patrol doesn't really have the time to truly understand you (which is a shame in and of itself because you'd realise that they're generally very nice people who are just doing what they have been taught to do to protect the country in which they were born and the people they love). - David Wed, 16 Dec 2009 14:51:30 +0100 http://essentialgeneva.com/Bad-Day-at-the-Israel-Jordan-Border.html#comment-86 What you have experienced is very common, and indeed this is the face of evil. Let's treat Israelis the way they treat foreigners : only boycott will bring down their racist, colonialist policies. As for the contention that there are zero Israeli terrorists, Israel was founded by terrorists : just go to the Lehi and Irgoun museums in Tel Aviv. And the terrorist leaders became prime ministers (Begin, Shamir Sharon, etc..) and kept doing the same. Israelis were the first to murder a UN official (Bernadotte), because he was trying to find a reasonable solution for Jerusalem. And so on - Marc Wed, 16 Dec 2009 10:02:27 +0100 http://essentialgeneva.com/Bad-Day-at-the-Israel-Jordan-Border.html#comment-85 I am sorry you had such a difficult time trying to get to Ramallah. However, your post contains a glaring mistruth. It has to do with the cookies--the "stale" cookies you "could not eat" because they contained lard. If they were stale, it means they were unwrapped. Which means you could not have read the ingredient list on the wrapper. Which means you could not have known they contained lard. Either way, Israeli cookies DO NOT CONTAIN LARD because they are not kosher! Why did you say they contained lard? I am truly troubled by the fact that you said this, because if you lied about the reason you went hungry, then you possibly lied about other experiences you had as well... - Tamar Wed, 16 Dec 2009 05:15:20 +0100 http://essentialgeneva.com/Bad-Day-at-the-Israel-Jordan-Border.html#comment-84 There are "zero" Israeli terrorists? :D Sure, because as everyone knows, those who seek to uncover the truth in pursuit of justice are "furthering an agenda". This country was founded by terrorists!! What do you call the ethnic cleansing of a million people? Charity? How about Baruch Goldstein? I guess he wasn't Israeli seeing as he immigrated from Brooklyn just a few years earlier. How about the colonists who burn trees, cars, shoot Palestinians and throw Molotov cocktails into homes while the IDF stands by and does nothing? - Oren Tue, 15 Dec 2009 23:24:49 +0100 http://essentialgeneva.com/Bad-Day-at-the-Israel-Jordan-Border.html#comment-83 There are "zero" Israeli terrorists? :D This country was founded by terrorists!! What do you call the ethnic cleansing of a million people? Charity? How about Baruch Goldstein? I guess he wasn't Israeli seeing as he immigrated from Brooklyn just a few years earlier. How about the colonists who burn trees, cars, shoot Palestinians and throw Molotov cocktails into homes while the IDF stands by and does nothing? - Oren Tue, 15 Dec 2009 23:23:42 +0100 http://essentialgeneva.com/Bad-Day-at-the-Israel-Jordan-Border.html#comment-82 Are you interested in furthering a specific agenda or in uncovering the truth? I'm not here to tell you the truth, but it is out there. If you were really truthful to yourself, and would properly consider the fact that there are ZERO Israeli terrorists, I don't really know how you could truly consider Israel all the evil you say it is. You didn't even want to visit Israel. You wanted Ramallah. Please don't judge before you really know what's going on. That is if you are really interested in truth. Otherwise, you're doing great - there are 1.2 billion Arabs who agree with you about us 6 million "evil" Israeli's. That 1 Israeli per 200 Arabs. A real threat. We'd love to continue spending 40% of our GDP on "oppressive" security. I mean common, we're all so rich we can afford it right? We've got nothing better to do with our time. I have no doubt you experienced discomfort and pain through your ordeal. I wish it weren't so. The question is what caused the whole situation in the first place. An OBJECTIVE pursuer of truth would not have written what you did. - Bz Tue, 15 Dec 2009 22:33:45 +0100 http://essentialgeneva.com/Bad-Day-at-the-Israel-Jordan-Border.html#comment-81 I feel sorry for the agony and trouble you went through. I did want to remind you of a few things (i apologize for my english, but i do believe most people's hebrew are worst than my english :> ). I am for peace, and as an israeli ALWAYS vote for the left-winged peace pursuing parties in the israel political map. But there are many things people don't understand about the situation (which is really bad, and israel doesn't need and by the way-doesn't want to control the territories, the problem today is that if israel leaves - hell will break loose - see gaza since after israel left, or lebanon - as a peace activist i feel really bad to say everytime the arabs got a chance in those areas- they used it to convince the world they don't want peace but want israel off the map). 1. No wonder Jordanians can be easy on security, there has been ZERO cases of israelis committing terror acts against the arab nations around them throughout all times. Thousdans died in Israel because of terror attacks. 2. Israel left the gaza strip in 2004, which started an huge wave of terror and missles still being launched at israel from there. 3. Israel is contantly in a state of wars with about countries comprised of around 750m people (which declared war on israel in 1948 and never canceled it - save for a few countries like egyps,jorand and I do believe Morroco and Oman canceled the official state of war, the rest are still in it), billions are being invested in terror infrastructure to fight israel. 4. Many western world (usually naive) people were exploited by terrorists to be used to perform terrorist acts against israel. 5. any israeli who will fall into the hands of palestinians is usually subject to a terrible lynch, not stale cookies (an as an ex israeli i think i know these cookies,they are considered ok by many israelis, although i can undersatnd you turning them down,they meant well by offering you them). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2000_Ramallah_lynching (i wonder why the peace loving nice palestinian is waving his bloody hands in triumphe outside the window?) these were israelis attacked INSIDE a palesitinian police station, I wonder why people keep comparing israel and the arab countries? this is like comparing the US an afganistan. - gary Tue, 15 Dec 2009 21:33:31 +0100 http://essentialgeneva.com/Bad-Day-at-the-Israel-Jordan-Border.html#comment-80 They were not 15 year old girls working, they were 18 - 21 year old girls who are serving mandatory army duty in the Border units. LOL, Cookies with lard? Your entire blog is a joke. It is exaggerated if not made up. There is so much to say but it doesn't matter, you've done your damage and if a young palestinian needed some encouragement to put on a bomb and blow up some Israeli kids, you've given it! I expect this post to get a minimum of -5, as has any other post that doesn't portray Israelis as animals. That just shows what kind of people follow your blog. Congratulations, you are an anti-semite. - Daniel Tue, 15 Dec 2009 18:02:44 +0100 http://essentialgeneva.com/Bad-Day-at-the-Israel-Jordan-Border.html#comment-79 Funny you should mention Hassan Nassrallah, aren't you kind of proving the point of your meticulous search? I liked the way you write but it reeks of the same arrogance you accuse the Israeli guards of. By the way, as a visitor to the USA I have been treated in the same manner more or less at the airport and no, I am not an Arab. - Hmmm Tue, 15 Dec 2009 14:44:17 +0100 http://essentialgeneva.com/Bad-Day-at-the-Israel-Jordan-Border.html#comment-74 Take your backwards Arabs friends and shove them to your A**** Another loony leftist Islamo -fascist sympathizer who think the world owe her something So what if you American ? You are not above everyone even In ISRAEL!! "If stupidly has a face in this world, it is an Spoiled American student wannabe" - zulu Sat, 07 Nov 2009 09:47:56 +0100 http://essentialgeneva.com/Bad-Day-at-the-Israel-Jordan-Border.html#comment-69 "If evil has a face in this world, it is an Israeli bureaucrat" haha yes, defly that is the face of evil! he made you wait for hours! Is a suicide bomber who kills 40 civilians at a Pakistani mosque or an Iraqi market or an Israeli pizza parlor evil? No, what's evil is an Israeli bureaucrat...hhahahhahahaha - gary Mon, 05 Oct 2009 05:37:34 +0100 http://essentialgeneva.com/Bad-Day-at-the-Israel-Jordan-Border.html#comment-68 words fear them the most nice piece Laurel - Gladiator Sun, 04 Oct 2009 20:39:58 +0100 http://essentialgeneva.com/Bad-Day-at-the-Israel-Jordan-Border.html#comment-67 Oh, this is so great. It reminds me of a story printed in the Jewish Journal of Los Angeles written by a young Jewish student who attended her first AIPAC conference and was shocked at the bloodlust and propaganda being portrayed on huge video screens that juxtaposed Ahmadinejad with Hitler over and over again. Very similiar accounting of the insanity of jewish racism, ignorace, and just plain zionist gone wild. - mondo Sun, 04 Oct 2009 17:27:25 +0100 http://essentialgeneva.com/Bad-Day-at-the-Israel-Jordan-Border.html#comment-66 Supporting jihadis gets you a long and unpleasant wait in line. You'll just have to get used to that. ;D;D;D;D;D;D;D;D;D;D;D;D - ضربني وبكى سبقني واشتكى Sun, 04 Oct 2009 15:57:50 +0100 http://essentialgeneva.com/Bad-Day-at-the-Israel-Jordan-Border.html#comment-65 "do you not think, perhaps, that if you were israeli crossing the border you may have been treated the very same way?" Sheer ignorance. No, Israelis (other than Palestinian Israelis or increasingly Israelis who have genuine sympathies withe Palestinians) are almost never treated this way. It is a racist system, pure and simple as is made abundantly clear in the author's experiences. Perhaps you should read it again. "and similarly you cannot project your experiences on the border guards to the israeli population. there are a large amount of israeli's who refuse to accept occupation or justify israel's treatment of palestinians." Actually, the number is miniscule. You want proof? Look at the electoral patterns, the opinion polls, etc. There is almost unanimous support in Israel for racism and oppression and occupation. If democracy is good for anything, it is for revealing peoples' true values and desires. And Israeli 'democracy' is very clear: they want Arabs to disappear or die. Just as Hutu Power extremists came to call Tutsis and Rwandans who believed in equality irrespective of ethnicity "cockroaches" before they were able to get the masses of the population to engage in genocide, so to do Zionists increasingly treat Palestinians and Arabs as non-humans. It may not have reached the stage of genocide, but with US funding and support, the Israeli population is overwhelmingly gearing themselves up for the option. It is a state of hatred and racism, a state that has learned nothing from Jewish history or human history in regard to civilized values. Zionism is not just racism, it is evil incarnate - manifested daily in banal abuses of power, indiscriminate violence, theft, and dehumanization of anyone who gets in the way of their racist philosophy. It's amazing only that an America that claims to have deeply internalized the lessons of the Holocaust can completely ignore what the precursors of the Holocaust were when it comes to Palestinians and Arabs. - anonymous Sat, 03 Oct 2009 18:11:06 +0100 http://essentialgeneva.com/Bad-Day-at-the-Israel-Jordan-Border.html#comment-64 This is a very touching story. What would you expect from the "guards" of an usurping entity and an occupier state. many relatives of mine go through the same thing daily. so imagine their Sumood. on anycase, first I really thank you and hold your hands for showing such courage and determination. people of conscience need those two the most. and secondly, the style of your writing is amazing. Looking forward to reading more of your posts - Bilal Sat, 03 Oct 2009 00:37:12 +0100 http://essentialgeneva.com/Bad-Day-at-the-Israel-Jordan-Border.html#comment-63 This is a very insightful piece. If this is what happens to a visiting American, imagine what happens to Palestinians in the West bank and Gaza daily?! Perhaps this can be (with the authors permission) posted on a mainstream news website such as The Guardian website...it deserves greater exposure. Kudos for having the bravery and endeavour to do what only a handful of westerners do. - Arsha Fri, 02 Oct 2009 23:21:23 +0100 http://essentialgeneva.com/Bad-Day-at-the-Israel-Jordan-Border.html#comment-61 do you not think, perhaps, that if you were israeli crossing the border you may have been treated the very same way? and similarly you cannot project your experiences on the border guards to the israeli population. there are a large amount of israeli's who refuse to accept occupation or justify israel's treatment of palestinians. - anonymous Fri, 02 Oct 2009 21:07:23 +0100 http://essentialgeneva.com/Bad-Day-at-the-Israel-Jordan-Border.html#comment-60 I confess that you, young lady, have the courage and spine of a hundred men. I do not think I would be able to endure this humiliation nor could I keep my composure. Thank you for your honesty and courage! Shukran from a Diaspora Palestinian. - Khaled Fri, 02 Oct 2009 17:09:31 +0100