Oh joy

worse, Obama wants to send people to Illinois. At least it's warm in Cuba.

 

The biggest laugh was that I really had been involved in setting off
explosives in remote parts of Pakistan because I was working for a
company doing seismic exploration out there. The discussion took place
about 2 or 3 years before 9-11 and I'd never heard of the mighty Bin
Liner at that time.

You're right though, I'd have been wearing orange overalls if I took
the piss like that these days. It certainly helps me sleep at night to
know someone's worrying about me like that.

 

Urm, I believe it's the other way round. The Israelis are supposed to be
pretty cool about Arabic passports. OTOH Arabic countries that haven't
officially recognised Israel are a PITA.

Mind you, they don't also recognise Palestine, so it's equally difficult
for Palestinians to travel to Arabic countries.

 

I had two at one stage, for exactly that reason.

 

I've heard that you can ask to have the Israel stamp on a piece of paper and
not in the passport. Dunno if it's true or not though.

 

I've flown out of Tel Aviv many times and never had a huge problem. The
questioning is a pita but most of the time I had young kids who seemed
to be learning their trade. There's no point in lying or, as I heard one
time, claiming that the information was 'confidential'. That particular
individual was subjected to several hours questioning and had to get the
next day's flight.

The strangest thing I found was that you are apparently not allowed to
take photos out of the 'plane window. I wonder what they think of Google
earth? No doubt they have some 'agreement' with Google.

 

You can, but I've had mixed reports about it. Sometimes they're fine
with it, and figure any problem is due to another country acting up.
Other times they get shirty and want to know why you have a problem with
anyone knowing you've been to Israel.

Of course this only works at sea and air ports. Land borders are
trickier - if you have an Egyptian exit stamp from a Sinai border
crossing it's pretty obvious where you went next, whether you have an
Israeli entry stamp or not. And if you don't, that apparently sets alarm
bells ringing.

 

"Palestinian-Americans: U.S. citizens who have a Palestinian Authority ID
number or whom the Government of Israel considers to have residency status
in the West Bank or Gaza are advised to read this section very carefully.

It is possible that Israeli authorities would consider as Palestinian anyone
who has a Palestinian Identification number, was born in the West Bank or
Gaza, or was born in the United States but has parents or grandparents who
were born or lived in the West Bank or Gaza. Any such U.S. citizens may be
required to travel to Israel using their Palestinian Authority passport,
regardless of whether they hold U.S. citizenship. Without the Palestinian
Authority passport, these Americans may be barred from entering or exiting
Israel, the West Bank or Gaza, or they may face serious delays at the ports
of entry.

Individuals who hold a Palestinian Authority ID, as well as persons judged
by Israeli authorities to have claim to a Palestinian Authority ID by virtue
of ancestry, will be considered subject to Israeli law and to regulations
that Israel applies to residents of the West Bank and Gaza, regardless of
whether they also hold U.S. citizenship. In most cases, such individuals
will be required by Israeli authorities to enter the West Bank via the
Allenby Bridge (also known as King Hussein Bridge) border crossing with
Jordan, rather than entering Israel via Ben Gurion International Airport
unless they obtain a transit permit for that purpose in advance. Even if
they have entered Israel via Ben Gurion Airport, they may be required to
depart via the Allenby Bridge. Upon arrival at any of the Ports of Entry,
such persons may wish to consider asking Israeli immigration authorities
from where they will be required to depart."



http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_1064.html

 

Hey, it might have been more than 3 hours. It was 10 years ago and to
be honest I had to think hard (and check an old passport) to remember
what time of year it was.

This was back in the good ol' pre-911 days when I'd regularly manage
to turn up to airports 30 or 40 minutes before flights (hand luggage
only) and still manage to get on the plane.

Happy days and all that.

 

Quite. Even if Egypt is one of a handful of countries recognising Israel,
they still don't like their stamps apparently.

 

I boggled a bit at this...
url:http://mobile.slashdot.org/story/09/12/16/0159251