Refused entry in 2008, what are my chances for 2009???

Hey Azra! I know it's been a while but I just wanted to say that I am sorry to hear that you were treated so badly. An algerian friend of mine (who is also a french citizen) was denied entry last year as well. Did you try to come back again? Anyways, hope you weren't too traumatized after spending a night in an isreali jail...Brutality is litteraly corrupting all aspects of israeli society.! Good luck again!

Hi Villon,
Thanks for your kind message..Yes, it was quite horrible to spend the night in an israeli jail, I was treated like a dangerous criminal but my only "crime" was to be Muslim. At the jail I noticed all kinds of people but no whites! That tells you a lot about their racist policies. Your entrance to israel depends on the colour of your skin and your religion. It's sad but very true.They simply don't want non-whites and non-Jews to enter. There was every other race imaginable such as black Africans, Latinos, Arabs, Turks, Carribean people, Sri Lankans and Indians in the jail...I was the only white person there (although of course the israelis arrogantly refused to believe that I'm a white Bosnian and not Arab). They suggested that I was playing games with them by refusing to "admit" that I was Arab. It was ridiculous. I told them more than 10 times that I'm Bosnian and not even vaguely Arab but they refused to believe me. Bosnians are white European people who look very different to Arabs in any case!..The place of birth as printed in my passport clearly states SARAJEVO which is in Bosnia, my native language is Bosnian and all my ancestors were Bosnian...The airport interrogation teams kept trying to catch me out by asking me questions in Arabic.. They were total idiots!!! Someone needs to educate those fools that not all Muslims are Arabs, in fact most Muslims in the world are NOT Arabs!

Why was your Algerian friend denied entry? I'm guessing that it was on the grounds of "security" (that's the multi-purpose excuse for everything israel does).. What happened to him/her?

No I haven't tried to go back since that time, I'm hoping to try this summer but won't try the airport..Will try to enter from the Allenby Bridge. I still have a Bosnian passport so might travel with that one in a final attempt to convince them that I am Bosnian not Arab.

You're right about israeli brutality, it's so disappointing that the world continues turning a blind eye and making excuses for it.

Best regards, Azra.

The question about the chances of entry into Israel is fine for the forum, but please do not veer off topic into political discussions about Israeli policies here. This inevitably results in heated arguments on the forum followed by removal of the thread by the moderation team.

Thanks!

With your attitude it is easy to see why you were refused entry. Let's hope they refuse you this time too.

What a load of absolute hooey.

If I remember correctly you posted something similar a couple of months ago and the thread was deleted since it quickly degenerated in to the OP ranting and raving against " Israeli fascism " I've got a feeling this thread will rightly be getting deleted again

BTW if you're from Sarajevo shouldn't your national language be Serbo-Croat and not " Bosnian " ?

docbrown: I apologise if my post offended anyone or came across as political. That wasn't my intention.

tonyphaser: I only discovered this website 3 or 4 days ago and registered then so I'm afraid that whatever post/s you read a couple of months ago weren't from me nor do I know their content or author. Yes, the official name of my language is Serbo-Croat, but when dealing with foreign people I just prefer to call it Bosnian. This is simply for ease and convinience because I find that many people from outside Europe have never heard of a language called Serbo-Croat but everyone has heard of Bosnia. I hope this answers your questions!

Regards, Azra.

Hi Azra; my friend and I got just back from a trip to Israel. It was my 1st visit there but my friend's 3rd visit. He's from Turkey and officially Muslim although very secular and not interested in politics or israel-bashing or that kinda stuff. Doesn't grow a beard or wear any kinda Muslim clothes. We arrived together at Tel Aviv airport and he was immediately selected for a random check as soon as we set foot inside the building. Before our visit he told me that on both of his previous visits when he travelled alone he had also been randomly selected for these interviews and that they lasted for many hours each time. When I was with him during this most recent visit (and my 1st visit to Israel) we got separated and he was taken to one room and I got taken to another. The staff were asking me hundreds of questions about him, his family, his job, girlfriend, studies but didn't ask more than a few simple questions about myself. They seemed very troubled by his muslim name and quizzd me on his religious afiliation, political beliefs, Islam in general and all that kinda stuff. I told them that he's not very religious and respects ppl of all faiths but they wouldn't accept my answers. It's like they were trying to get me to dish some dirt on my friend although there wasn't anything to dish. He's just a regular backpacker and peace-loving kinda guy. 3 hours later we were reunited and given the all clear to enter Israel but my friend was pretty shaken up and said he'd been subjected to a strip search and lots of extremely rude and personal questions unconnected with his holiday in Israel. The same process happened when we were leaving Tel Aviv airport at the end of our trip too. You'd have thought that the airport staff might think to store his original answers in their system in order to same a bit of time :/