facility:ben-gurion airport

  • Report: Russia behind disruptions in Ben Gurion GPS systems - Israel National News
    http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/265174

    The Airports Authority announced yesterday that for three weeks pilots trying to land at Ben-Gurion Airport have been encountering mysterious disruptions in the aircraft’s navigation system.

    Galei Tzahal revealed that senior officials involved in the affair estimate that the reason for these disruptions is a hostile attack by Russia. It was also revealed that as part of the attempts to resolve the issue, a senior Israeli defense official is currently in Europe, where he met with American officials to discuss, among other things, the issue of the disruptions.

    The Airports Authority stated in connection with the disruptions: “As a result of the disturbances, some of the entry procedures for landing have been modified, via the safest and most professional medium at airports around the world (the ILS system) and in Israel, in particular. Ben Gurion Airport supervisors constantly carry out full escort of the aircraft taking off and landing, and at no stage was there a safety incident related to GPS interference in connection with the accuracy of navigation and flight routes.”

    It also noted that “From the first day that the disturbance appeared, officials in Israel have been working to solve the problem and find the source of the problem.”

    The IDF said: “This is an incident in the civilian arena, which the IDF is assisting with technological means, in order to allow freedom of action in the airspace of the State of Israel. At this point in time, this incident does not affect the IDF’s activity. The IDF is constantly working to preserve freedom of action and optimal operations across the spectrum.”

    #israël #russie #pirates_de_l'air

  • Israel’s Supreme Court grants Lara Alqasem’s appeal; she will be allowed to enter the country
    Haaretz.com | Noa Landau and Jonathan Lis Oct 19, 2018 5:18 AM
    https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-israel-s-supreme-court-accepts-lara-alqasem-s-appeal-she-will-be-a

    U.S. student Lara Alqasem will be allowed to enter Israel after the Supreme Court accepted on Thursday her appeal against the decision to prevent her entry. Alqasem, whom the state claimed was a BDS activist, was held over two weeks in a detainment center at Ben-Gurion International Airport despite receiving a student visa from an Israeli consulate prior to her arrival.

    Alqasem, 22, was detained at Ben-Gurion Airport upon her arrival on October 2 after she was flagged as a BDS activist. Alqasem, who has a student visa and is enrolled in a master’s program in human rights at the Hebrew University, has been detained ever since.

    “I’m relieved at the court’s decision and incredibly grateful for the work of my amazing and tireless lawyers Yotam Ben Hillel and Leora Bechor as well as the support of my family and friends. I will be happy to say more when I’ve had a chance to rest and process,” Alqasem told Haaretz following her release.

    “Since the appellant’s actions do not raise satisfactory cause to bar her to entry to Israel, the inevitable impression is that invalidating the visa given to her was due to the political opinions she holds,” read the verdict. “If this is truly the case, then we are talking about an extreme and dangerous step, which could lead to the crumbling of the pillars upon which democracy in Israel stands,” the verdict continued.

    “The Law of Entry to Israel is intended to protect the state’s sovereignty, and the public’s safety and security. It does not have a component of penalty, or revenge for previous bad behavior,” Justice Neal Hendel said.

    “Despite the obstacles in her way the appellant insists on her right to study at the Hebrew University. This conduct is not in keeping, in an understatement, with the thesis that the she’s an undercover boycott activist,” he continued.

    “The Interior Ministry has openly admitted that it does not have any evidence of the appellant’s engaging in boycott activity since April 2017, except for mysterious ’indications’ whose essence hasn’t been clarified and regarding which no evidence has been submitted,” Neal noted.

    “The material submitted regarding the appellant’s activity in the SJP organization shows that even at that stage the boycott activity was minor and limited in character,” Neal added. “There’s no doubt the SJP cell indeed supported boycotting Israel – and this position must be roundly condemned. It is also presumable that the appellant, who played a role in the cell and for three years was one of its few members, was partner to this unworthy activity. However, it is impossible to ignore the cell’s sporadic and relatively minor character. In itself, it certainly was not one of the prominent boycott organizations and it is doubtful whether the appellant could be seen as filling the criteria [required in the law?] even when she had a position in it.”

    Neal continued, saying that “alongside the random indications of the appellant’s involvement in BDS activity during her studies, it is impossible to ignore the testimonies of her lecturers about her complex approach, the curiosity she displayed toward Israel and Judaism and her readiness to conduct an open, respectful dialogue – which is in stark contrast to the boycott idea.”

    “The struggle against the BDS movement and others like it is a worthy cause. The state is permitted, not to say obliged, to protect itself from discrimination and the violent silencing of the political discourse. It may take steps against the boycott organizations and their activists. In this case, preventing the appellant’s entry does not advance the law’s purpose and clearly deviates from the bounds of reasonability,” Neal concluded.

    Justice Anat Baron said that “there was no place to deny the appellant the entry visa she had been granted, because clearly she doesn’t now and hasn’t for a long time engaged in boycotting Israel, not to mention engaging in ’active, continuing and substantial’ work in this matter. The decision to deny the appellant’s entry visa is unreasonable to the extent that it requires intervention.”

    #Lara_Alqasem #BDS #Douane #Frontière #Aéroport #expulsions_frontières (d’israel)

    • @kassem ???

      La Cour suprême annule l’interdiction d’entrée de Lara Alqasem
      L’étudiante américaine, accusée d’être en faveur du BDS, entamera un master en droit à l’Université hébraïque de Jérusalem dès la semaine prochaine
      Par AFP et Times of Israel Staff 18 octobre 2018, 20:36
      https://fr.timesofisrael.com/la-cour-supreme-annule-linterdiction-dentree-dune-etudiante-americ

      L’étudiante avait interjeté un ultime appel dimanche, le jour où elle devait être expulsée du centre d’immigration de l’aéroport où elle était détenue depuis deux semaines.

      Il s’agit d’un des cas les plus médiatisés de refus d’accès au territoire israélien en vertu d’une loi adoptée en 2017 : celle-ci permet d’interdire l’entrée aux partisans du mouvement BDS (Boycott, Désinvestissement, Sanctions) appelant au boycott économique, culturel ou scientifique d’Israël.

      Lara Alqasem avait présidé en 2017, au cours de ses études en Floride (sud-est des Etats-Unis), une branche du « Students for Justice in Palestine », organisation menant des campagnes de boycott contre Israël. Mais elle a dit avoir quitté ensuite le mouvement.

      Lors d’une audience devant la Cour suprême mercredi, l’avocat de Lara Alqasem avait déclaré que l’Etat devrait faire preuve de bon sens quant à l’application de la loi contre les partisans de la campagne BDS.

      « Pourquoi voudrait-elle entrer en Israël pour appeler à boycotter ? » ce pays, s’était interrogé son avocat, Me Yotam Ben Hillel.

  • L’article d’une DJ israélienne à propos des annulations récentes. Quelques points à noter :
    1) elle n’est pas surprise de l’annulation de Lana del Rey
    2) elle est surprise en revanche de l’annulation de DJs, car ce milieu n’était pas touché par la politique et BDS, et elle se demande si ce n’est pas le début de quelque chose...
    3) elle cite Gaza, la loi sur l’Etat Nation, les arrestations d’activistes à l’aéroport, mais aussi la proximité entre Trump et Netanyahu, qui influence surtout les artistes américains
    4) on apprend que tout le monde sait qu’il y a des artistes, et non des moindres, qui même s’ils ne le disent pas ouvertement, ne viendront jamais en israel : Beyoncé, The Knife, Grizzly Bear, Arcade Fire, Deerhunter, Sonic Youth, Lil Yachty, Tyler the Creator, Kendrick Lamar, Chance the Rapper, Vince Staples, Moodymann, Kyle Hall, the Martinez Brothers, Ben UFO, DJ Ricardo Villalobos, Matthew Herbert, Andrew Weatherall... C’est ce qu’on appelle le boycott silencieux...
    5) il y a aussi le cas de ceux qui ne viennent que si les concerts sont organisés par des Palestiniens : Acid Arab et Nicolas Jaar
    6) même si cela me semble faux, le fait d’accuser certains artistes de boycotter parce que c’est à la mode est un aveu que BDS a le vent en poupe dans le milieu de la musique

    The Day the Music Died : Will BDS Bring Tel Aviv’s Club Scene to a Standstill ?
    Idit Frenkel, Haaretz, le 7 septembre 2018
    https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium.MAGAZINE-the-day-the-music-died-will-bds-halt-tel-aviv-s-club-scen

    Lana Del Rey should have known better. And if not Del Rey herself, then at least her managers, PR people and agents.

    As the highest-profile artist who was scheduled to appear at the Meteor Festival over the weekend in the north, it was clear she’d be the one caught in the crossfire , the one boycott groups would try to convince to ditch an appearance in Israel. That’s the same crossfire with diplomatic, moral and economic implications that confronted Lorde, Lauryn Hill and Tyler, the Creator: musicians who announced performances in Israel and changed their minds because of political pressure.

    Del Rey, however, isn’t the story. Her cancellation , which included some mental gymnastics as far as her positions were concerned, could have been expected. Unfortunately, we’ve been there many times and in many different circumstances.

    Tsunami of cancellations

    The ones who caught us unprepared by drafting an agenda for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict turned out to be DJs like Shanti Celeste, Volvox, DJ Seinfeld, Python and Leon Vynehall, who also dropped out of Meteor. Why was this unexpected? Because Israel’s nightlife and clubbing scene – especially in Tel Aviv – had been an oasis regarding cultural boycotts, an extraterritorial hedonistic space with no room for politics.

    The current tsunami of cancellations, while it might sound trivial if you’re untutored in trance music, could reflect a trend with effects far beyond the Meteor Festival. In the optimistic scenario, this is a one-off event that has cast the spotlight on lesser-known musicians as well. In the pessimistic scenario, this is the end of an era in which the clubbing scene has been an exception.

    Adding credence to the change-in-direction theory are the cancellations by DJs who have spun in Tel Aviv in recent years; Volvox, Shanti Celeste and Leon Vynehall have all had their passports stamped at Ben-Gurion Airport. And those times the situation wasn’t very different: Benjamin Netanyahu was prime minister, the occupation was decades long and there were sporadic exchanges of fire between the sides.

    Moreover, two of the DJs spearheading the struggle on the nightlife scene regarding Mideast politics – the Black Madonna and Anthony Naples – have been here, enjoyed themselves, been honored and promised to return, until they discovered there’s such a thing as the occupation.

    Americans and Brits cancel more

    So what has changed since 2015? First, there has been a change on the Gaza border, with civilians getting shot. These incidents have multiplied in the past three months and don’t exactly photograph well.

    Second, news reports about the nation-state law and the discrimination that comes with it have done their bit. Third, the arrests and detentions of left-wing activists entering Israel haven’t remained in a vacuum.

    Fourth, and most importantly, is Donald Trump’s presidency and his unconditional embrace of Netanyahu, including, of course, the controversial opening of the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem. As in the case of Natalie Portman’s refusal to accept a prize from the state, the closeness between the Trump administration and the Netanyahu government – under the sponsorship of evangelical Christians – has made Israel a country non grata in the liberal community, of which Hollywood is one pole and nightlife the other.

    It’s no coincidence that the DJs canceling are either Americans or Brits on the left; that is, Democrats or Jeremy Corbyn supporters in Labour – people who see cooperation with Israel as collaboration with Trump and Britain’s Conservative government.

    Different from them is Honey Dijon, the black trans DJ from Chicago who in response to the protest against her appearance at the Meteor Festival tweeted: “All of you people criticizing me about playing in Israel, when you come to America and stand up for the murder of black trans women and the prison industrial complex of black men then we can debate. I play for people not governments.” Not many people tried to argue with her. Say what you will, contrarianism is always effective.

    The case of DJ Jackmaster

    Beyond the issue of values, at the image level, alleged collaboration can be a career killer, just as declaring a boycott is the last word in chic for your image nowadays. That’s exactly what has happened with Scotland’s DJ Jackmaster, who has gone viral with his eventual refusal to perform at Tel Aviv’s Block club. He posted a picture of the Palestinian flag with a caption saying you have to exploit a platform in order to stand up for those who need it. The flood of responses included talk about boycotting all Tel Aviv, not just the Block.

    Yaron Trax is the owner of the Block; his club is considered not only the largest and most influential venue in town but also an international brand. Trax didn’t remain silent; on his personal Facebook account he mentioned how a few weeks before Jackmaster’s post his agent was still trying to secure the gig for him at the Block.

    “Not my finest hour, but calling for a boycott of my club at a time when an artist is trying to play there felt to me like crossing a line,” Trax says. “Only after the fact, and especially when I saw how his post was attracting dozens of hurtful, belligerent and racist responses – and generating a violent discourse that I oppose – did I realize how significant it was.”

    Trax talks about the hatred that has welled up in support of Jackmaster’s Israel boycott – just between us, not the sharpest tool in the shed and someone who has recently been accused of sexual harassment. As Trax puts it, “The next day it was important to me to admonish myself, first off, and then all those who chose to respond the way they responded.”

    In a further well-reasoned post, Trax wrote, “I have always thought that people who take a risk and use the platform that is given to them to transmit a message they believe in, especially one that isn’t popular, deserve admiration and not intimidation or silencing.” Unsurprisingly, the reactions to this message were mostly positive.

    Notwithstanding the boycotters who have acceded to the demands of Roger Waters and Brian Eno – the most prominent musicians linked to the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement – there are plenty of superstar musicians like Lady Gaga, Justin Timberlake and the Rolling Stones who have come to Israel as part of their concert tours, even though they suffered the same pressures. The performers most vocal about their decision to appear in Israel have been Radiohead and Nick Cave.

    At a press conference on the eve of his concert, Cave expressed his opinion on the demand to boycott Israel: “It suddenly became very important to make a stand, to me, against those people who are trying to shut down musicians, to bully musicians, to censor musicians and to silence musicians.”

    Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke took the message one step further and tweeted: “Playing in a country isn’t the same as endorsing its government. We’ve played in Israel for over 20 years through a succession of governments, some more liberal than others. As we have in America. We don’t endorse Netanyahu any more than Trump, but we still play in America.” As Yorke put it, music, art and academia are “about crossing borders, not building them.”

    There’s a lot of truth in Yorke’s declaration, but whether or not musicians like it, appearances in Israel tend to acquire a political dimension; any statement becomes a potential international incident. Thus, for example, after Radiohead’s statement, Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan saluted the band, and after Cave’s press conference, Foreign Ministry spokesman Emmanuel Nahshon tweeted “Bravo Nick Cave!”

    The trend continues when we step down a league from the A-listers, like Beyoncé, who doesn’t intend to perform in Israel despite her annual declaration that she’ll come “next year.” There’s the second level, the cream of international alternative rock and pop – refusals to appear in Israel by bands “of good conscience” like the Knife, Grizzly Bear, Arcade Fire and Deerhunter.

    The most prominent voice from this territory is that of former Sonic Youth guitarist and vocalist Thurston Moore. Yes, he appeared with his band in Tel Aviv 23 years ago, but since then he has become an avid supporter of BDS, so much so that he says it’s not okay to eat hummus because it’s a product of the occupation.

    ’Apartheid state’

    At the next level of refusers are the major – and minor – hip-hop stars. In addition to Lil Yachty and Tyler, who canceled appearances, other heroes of the genre like Kendrick Lamar, Chance the Rapper and Vince Staples have refused from the outset to accept invitations to Israel. It’s quite possible that the connection between BDS and Black Lives Matter is influential. As early as 2016, Black Lives Matter published a statement supporting BDS and declaring Israel an “apartheid state.”

    Which brings us to electronic music and the cultural phenomenon that goes with it – the club culture. In numerical terms, club culture is smaller, but the information that flows from it on the ground or online flows much faster.

    Moreover, not only is club culture more sensitive to changes and far more alert to ideas and technological advances, its history is marked by struggles by oppressed groups. It can be said that African-Americans, Hispanics and gay people were the first to adopt the “night” way of life, back in the days of New York’s clubs and underground parties in the ‘70s. Accordingly, these groups have been the ones to nurture this lifestyle into today’s popular culture. Hence also the association with movements like BDS.

    Boiler Room Palestine

    Indeed, the current trend points to a step-up in the discourse; in the past year the top alternative culture magazines – of which the electronic music magazines play a key role – have published articles surveying musical and cultural happenings in Palestinian society.

    The online music magazine Resident Advisor has had two such stories, the first about a workshop for artists with the participation of the Block 9 production team, musicians Brian Eno and Róisín Murphy (formerly of Moloko) and American DJ the Black Madonna. The workshop, which included tours, discussion groups and joint musical work, was held at the Walled Off Hotel in Ramallah, also known as Banksy’s hotel because of the street artist’s involvement in its planning in the shadow of the separation barrier.

    The second article surveyed the Palestinian electronic scene and its leading players – promoters, DJs and producers who are operating despite the restrictive military regime. In addition, the writer accompanied the production of Boiler Room Palestine in Ramallah in June. (The wider Boiler Room franchise has been the world’s most popular pop party for the past five years.)

    Another example includes the style magazine Dazed, which wrote about the cultural boycott movement immediately after the cancellation of Lorde’s concert, and just last month New York Magazine’s culture supplement Vulture set forth its philosophy on the boycott (also in the context of Lana Del Rey). It predicted that the awakening we’re seeing today is only in its infancy.

    This partial list isn’t a clear declaration about “taking a stance” – after all, progressive media outlets in culture laud Israeli artists (for example Red Axes, Moscoman and Guy Gerber) or local venues, like the Block club. But if you add to these the scores of Facebook battles or Twitter discussions (like the one Del Rey found herself in), you’ll get noise. And noise generates questions, which generate more noise and raise consciousness. And from there to change on the ground is a modest distance.

    ’These are people who slept on my sofa’

    Refusals of invitations or cancellations of concerts in Israel by artists didn’t begin with BDS or the increasing volume of the past two years. After all, a visit to Israel all too often requires an intrusive security check. It’s hard to complain about a DJ who isn’t keen to have his underwear probed.

    Also, there’s a stratum of artists who’ve appeared in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem or Haifa and have decided to stop coming – unless there’s a Palestinian production. Two examples are the French band Acid Arab (Parisians Guido Minisky and Hervé Carvalho) and the American producer – and darling of the hipster community – Nicolas Jaar . Jaar appeared in Tel Aviv a bit under a decade ago, just before he became a star, while Acid Arab not only performed in Tel Aviv but was also involved in projects with Israeli musicians – so plenty of people called the duo hypocrites.

    “I have no problem with strong opinions, but in the case of Acid Arab it annoyed me at the personal level – these are people who slept on my sofa, recorded with local musicians, and the day they put up their post announcing they wouldn’t play in Tel Aviv, they also asked me to send them some music,” says Maor Anava, aka DJ Hectik.

    “I have no problem with people changing their minds on the go; it’s clear to me that a visit to the separation fence can do it, but what bothered me is that it’s entirely a PR and image move, apparently at the advice of their agent,” he adds.

    “We’ve reached a situation in which a boycott of Israel is the trendiest thing and situates you in the right place in the scene – as a supporter of the Palestinian freedom fighters against the terrible Zionist occupier, something that can get you to another three big festivals. If you performed in Tel Aviv, apparently they’d do without you.”

    Thus at the end of last year, Acid Arab and Nicolas Jaar appeared in Haifa and Ramallah at parties produced by Jazar Crew, the only electronic collective in Israel that isn’t afraid to mix in politics.. So it surprised no one when Jazar received laudatory – and justified – coverage not only in Bar Peleg’s Haaretz piece but also in Resident Advisor.

    Is the party over?

    So are we seeing the onset of the electronic boycott of Tel Aviv, one of the world’s clubbing capitals? Well, the city is still a flourishing center of parties and club events every week. “ As of today it hasn’t yet happened that we’ve directly encountered an attempt by the cultural boycott to influence artists who are slated to appear at the club,” Trax says.

    “But we’re definitely seeing a change in the surrounding behavior. Nasty responses that people are leaving for a DJ who announced an upcoming gig with us have led to fewer famous DJs announcing appearances at the Block – even those who always promote themselves.”

    He notes a slowdown in the past two years. “A number of DJs who used to appear with us – Moodymann, Kyle Hall, the Martinez Brothers – have announced they won’t be returning, ” Trax says, referring to three American acts. “But there isn’t any set reason why. If the cultural boycott has an influence here I wouldn’t be surprised, because the Detroit junta is very political. And this also applies to UFO,” a successful British DJ and a high-profile voice in the European underground arena.

    Not all DJs who have chosen not to come to Israel have taken their stance amid the strengthening of the BDS movement. Some of the top people in the dance industry – including star Chilean-German DJ Ricardo Villalobos and British DJs and producers like Matthew Herbert and Andrew Weatherall – have for years been refusing to spin in Israel. They’ve made clear that this is their way of opposing Israel’s activities in the territories.

    Another great DJ, Tunisian-born Loco Dice who lives in Germany, is also considered a vocal opponent of Israel. But in December he played at the Block, and Trax doesn’t recall any signs that his guest was hostile to the country. This shows that a change of awareness works both ways.

    There’s a similar story: the decision by DJ Tama Sumo of the Berghain club in Berlin to play in Israel after a long boycott. She and her partner DJ Lakuti, a pillar of the industry, donated the proceeds of her Tel Aviv set to an organization for human rights in the territories.

    “As of now I don’t feel that the names who have decided to stop coming will change anything regarding the Block, because our lineup of VIPs isn’t based on them,” Trax says. “But if the more commercial cream of the clubs – DJs like Dixon, Ame and Damian Lazarus, or the big names in techno like Nina Kraviz, Ben Klock, Jeff Mills or Adam Beyer – change their minds, that will be a real blow to us, and not just us.”

    Amotz Tokatly, who’s responsible for bringing DJs to Tel Aviv’s Beit Maariv club, isn’t feeling much of a change. “The cancellations or refusals by DJs and artists based on a political platform didn’t begin just this year. I’ve been encountering this for many years now. There are even specific countries where we know the prevailing mood is political and tending toward the boycott movement. For example England. The rhetoric there is a priori much stronger,” Tokatly says.

    “But take Ben UFO, who has played in Tel Aviv in the past. When we got back to him about another spinning gig he said explicitly, ‘It simply isn’t worth it for me from a public relations perspective, and it could hurt me later on.’ DJs like him make their own calculations.”

    Tokatly doesn’t believe in a “Meteor effect” that will send the visiting DJ economy to the brink of an abyss. “I’m giving it a few weeks to calm down, and in the worst case we won’t be seeing here the level of minor league DJs who have canceled due to the circumstances,” he says.

    “In any case, they’re names who would have come here – if at all – once a year. Regarding artists who have a long-term and stable relationship with the local scene, we haven’t seen any change in approach yet.”

    Unlike Trax and Tokatly, Doron “Charly” Mastey of the techno duo TV.OUT and content director at Tel Aviv’s Alphabet Club says the recent goings-on haven’t affected him too much; his club is unusual in that doesn’t base itself on names from abroad.

    “I don’t remember any case of a refusal or cancellation because of political leanings,” he says. “But with everything that’s happening now regarding Meteor, and if that affects the scene down the road and the airlift to Tel Aviv stops, I’m not at all sure that’s a bad thing.”

    Mastey has in mind the gap between the size of the audience and the number of events, parties and festivals happening in Israel right now. “The audience is tired, and indifferent,” he says.. “And if this kick in the pants – of cancellations – is what’s going to dismantle the scene in its current format, then it will simply rebuild itself. I hope in a way that’s healthier for everyone.”

    In any case, if the rest of the world has realized that it’s impossible to separate politics from anything, and definitely not from club culture, which started out as a political and social movement, then the best thing we can do is try to hold the discussion in an inclusive a way as possible. An Israeli DJ working in Berlin who requested anonymity thinks that these ideas should be taken one step further.

    “Nowadays, for artists who want to go to Israel, two proposals are on the table,” he says. “Support the boycott or support the occupation. These two things are depicted even if they aren’t accurate, and between the two options there are a thousand more levels.”

    He believes there is scope for taking action. “The local scene must know how to fill the vacuum and craft alternatives to the boycott’s demands,” he says. “For example, by showing artists other ways to take a stand, whether by cooperating with Palestinians or suggesting that they donate the proceeds of their Tel Aviv appearances to a human rights group.”

    The voices calling for a cultural boycott of Israel, whether in sports, concerts or the subfield of electronic music, aren’t going to disappear. If anything, they’re only going to grow louder.

    Moreover, if we take into account the complexity of the conflict, maybe we should seek to communicate these insights in a way that drops the imagery of absolutes like left-right, bad-good, Zionist-anti-Semitic. The club culture exists to connect extremes, not separate people. Our demand to continue a vibrant electronic scene is just as legitimate as that of the boycott supporters’ attempts to create awareness.

    Even if we don’t agree with the idea of the boycott, it’s still possible to accept the realization that there are people who think differently – who want to perform for the other side as much as they want to perform for us. This doesn’t make them an existential danger.

    Moreover, as the Israeli DJ working in Berlin says, the Israeli scene needs an arsenal of proposals for constructive activism; it must provide alternatives to the BDS call to boycott – and not automatically flex an insulted patriotic muscle. This might not be the easiest thing to do, but hey, this is Israel. It’s not going to be easy.

    #Palestine #BDS #Boycott_culturel

  • Just look at Ben-Gurion Airport - Opinion
    Haaretz.com | Gideon Levy | Aug 16, 2018 1:07 AM
    https://www.haaretz.com/opinion/.premium-just-look-at-ben-gurion-airport-1.6384896

    Look at Ben-Gurion Airport, and see us. Nothing reflects Israel 2018 better than that entrance gate, the place Israelis hold most sacred.

    Elaborately designed, efficient, modern, with a semblance of the epitome of freedom – here the “open sky” is the limit – while under the magnificent columns and moving walkways the injustices fester, well hidden, as usual, behind screens. The Ben-Gurion we love so much is an airport of segregation, an airdrome partially in the Shin Bet’s control, including a thought-police station. Welcome arrivals and departures: Peter Beinart is not alone.

    It begins long before the entrance. About two million residents, some of them living on the very outskirts of the airport, see it from their window but cannot go near it, not to mention use its services. Their Jewish neighbors are allowed, but they themselves are prohibited. They’re Palestinians. Have you heard of any other international airport that is closed to some of the state’s residents solely because of their origin? If this isn’t the port of apartheid, what is?

    As the permitted ones drive up to the checkpoint at the entrance, the ceremony of opening the window and greeting the security guard, armed with a machine gun – the most racist procedure there is – takes place. Everyone cooperates with this sickening act, intended to hear the passengers’ accent and ascertain whether they are Jews or Arabs.

    The security guards know what they’re doing. They also know what they’re doing at the security examinations in the airport. Invasive, intrusive questions that have no place in a free country, that have nothing to do with flight security. Not everyone is subjected to this, of course. Profiling is the name of the game, intended to make it easy for us, the privileged Israeli Jews, and deprive and degrade all the rest. Security, hush-hush, don’t ask questions.

    And then the numbers with the different endings on the sticker attached to your passport, separating one traveler from another, on the basis of his origin, or the extent of suspicion he raises. There are numbers whose digital endings mean complete nudity in front of the male or female examiner. This does not apply to the Jewish Israelis.

    Most of the suspicions in Ben-Gurion Airport arise because of origin or ideological affiliation. An American of Palestinian origin – suspicious. A Jew is not, of course, unless he’s a leftist. There are no suspicions of right-wingers. There’s no chance that an racist evangelist from Alabama, an “Israel lover” and believer in Armageddon, could endanger anything. Only the Norwegian tourist who took part, bad girl, in a tour of Breaking the Silence, is jeopardizing the flight’s safety or the public’s security. Only the activist of the Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel is a potential plane hijacker, or a possible terrorist.

    No rightist supporter of the settlers, Jewish or Christian, has ever been held up at Ben-Gurion Airport and interrogated about his activity on behalf of the settlements, which are far more criminal than any demonstration, protest or act of solidarity with the Palestinians. Such a person, it seems, has yet to be born. In Israel, the fascist, even anti-Semitic, right is patriotic, and so it is in Ben-Gurion Airport too, the mirror of our homeland’s landscape.

    It will end only on the day Israelis are humiliated like that at the gateways to other countries. Until then the security excuse will be upheld and used for everything. And we haven’t yet said a word about the Palestinian citizens of Israel. Try once to think of the one standing in front of you or behind you in line, an Israeli Arab, director of a hospital ward or a construction worker. He has the same passport, the same citizenship as yours, in the nation-state of equality for all. Try to imagine the feeling of exclusion, the affront of deprivation. What does he say to the child who asks why we are here and they are there, how does he overcome the suspicious looks.

    On top of all this came the ridiculous, outrageous war on BDS, which turned Ben-Gurion border officials into duty officers of the thought-police. Beinart was its victim, but he’s a Jew and quite famous, so his interrogation was declared an “administrative error.” But this is no error: This is Ben-Gurion Airport. This is Israel. And now, to the duty-free shops.

    #BenGourion #expulsions #frontières

  • Israel’s Shin Bet detains Peter Beinart at Ben-Gurion airport over political activity
    The Jewish-American journalist wrote that he was pulled aside for questioning upon entering Israel ■ Netanyahu says he was told detention was ’administrative mistake’ and ’Israel welcomes all’
    Amir Tibon and Noa Landau Aug 13, 2018 8:27 PM
    https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-beinart-i-was-detained-at-ben-gurion-airport-over-political-activi

    Beinart’s interrogation is the latest in a series of incidents at Israel’s border entry and exit points that involved political questioning of Jewish Americans.

    Last month, a Jewish American philanthropist who donated millions to Israeli hospitals and schools was interrogated because security at Ben Gurion found a booklet about Palestine in his suitcase.

    Last week, two left-wing Jewish American activists were detained for three hours at the border crossing between Israel and Egypt. One of the activists, Simone Zimmerman, one of the founding members of the Jewish anti-occupation IfNotNow, claimed she was interrogated about her political opinions.

    Israel’s security service, the Shin Bet, stated in response to Zimmerman’s allegations that it did not recommend that she be questioned about her political leanings, but simply advised that she and activist Abigail Kirschbaum be questioned.

    Beinart mentioned Zimmerman’s detention and questioning in his article. He described Zimmerman’s questioning as part of an overall trend in Israel, noting that “the day before, Netanyahu all but incited violence against the New Israel Fund’s director in Israel.”

    The journalist also referenced the Israeli government’s passage of the contentious nation-state law as part of a process in which, in his view, “Israel is getting uglier.”

    Yael Patir, the Israel Director at J Street, responded to the Beinart’s detention on Monday, saying that “slippery slope has turned into a dark and dangerous abyss when every citizen who dares criticize the Netanyahu government can find himself interrogated over his opinions.”

    “The clerks of the Immigration Authority and Shin Bet interrogators become, against their will, become the obeyers of a regime that uses them as a tool for political persecutions,” she continued.

    “If the government of Israel wants some sort of connection to the vast majority of U.S. Jewry, as well as to preserve the Israeli democracy, the political interrogations ought to stop entirely,” Patir concluded.

    In May, the Shin Bet held Israeli peace activist Tanya Rubinstein at Ben-Gurion International Airport for half an hour in early May, Rubinstein told Haaretz. She is general coordinator of the Coalition of Women for Peace and was returning from a conference sponsored by the Swedish foreign ministry. Left-wing activist Yehudit Ilani was detained two weeks later on her way back from Europe after visiting a flotilla headed to Gaza in the coming weeks in her capacity as a journalist.

    The Shin Bet responded to the report on Beinart’s arrest as well, saying that it operates only according to law and for the state’s security. “Mr. Beinart’s detention was carried out as a result of an error of judgment by the professional official at the scene.”

    The Shin Bet also told Haaretz it was “sorry for the unpleasantness Mr. Beinart experienced. The Shin Bet chief has instructed that the case be looked into.”
    Amir Tibon

    #BenGourion

    • Israël : l’interrogatoire d’un journaliste américain était une « erreur » selon Netanyahu
      AFP Publié le lundi 13 août 2018 à 20h58
      http://www.lalibre.be/actu/international/israel-l-interrogatoire-d-un-journaliste-americain-etait-une-erreur-selon-ne
      Le Premier ministre israélien Benjamin Netanyahu a affirmé lundi que l’interrogatoire auquel a été soumis un journaliste américain à son arrivée en Israël était dû à une « erreur administrative », a indiqué son bureau dans un communiqué.

      Peter Beinart, un journaliste de The Forward, a décrit dans un article de ce journal juif américain publié à New York comment il a été interrogé sur ses opinions politiques dimanche pendant une heure par un agent du Shin Beth, le service de sécurité intérieure, à son arrivée à l’aéroport Ben Gourion.

      Partisan du boycott des produits en provenance des colonies israéliennes implantées en Cisjordanie, un territoire palestinien occupé par Israël, il a raconté avoir été interrogé « encore et encore sur les noms des organisations +répréhensibles+ » avec lesquelles il était associé.

      Le journaliste, qui a affirmé être venu en Israël pour des raisons familiales, a qualifié la conversation de « déprimante, mais pas effrayante ».

      « Le Premier ministre a appris que M. Beinart a été questionné à l’aéroport Ben Gourion. Il a immédiatement parlé avec les responsables des forces de sécurité israéliennes pour savoir comment une telle chose avait pu se produire. Il lui a été répondu qu’il s’agissait d’une erreur administrative », indiquent ses services dans leur communiqué.

      « Israël est une société ouverte qui accueille aussi bien ceux qui le critiquent que ceux qui le soutiennent », a assuré le Premier ministre.

      M. Beinart a réagi sur son compte Twitter en estimant que Benjamin Netanyahu « s’est excusé à moitié (..) ».

      « J’accepterai ses excuses lorsqu’il s’excusera auprès de tous les Palestiniens et des Palestino-Américains qui endurent chaque jour des choses bien pire ».

      En mars 2017, le Parlement israélien a voté une loi interdisant l’entrée en Israël des partisans du mouvement « BDS » (Boycott, Dé-investissement et Sanctions contre Israël) qui lutte contre l’occupation des territoires palestiniens.

      BDS s’inspire de la lutte menée contre le régime de l’apartheid en Afrique du sud.

  • The right’s security service at Ben-Gurion Airport - Haaretz Editorial -

    At first it was the automatic and indiscriminate delay of Palestinians and Israeli Arabs, then it degenerated into blacklists of BDS supporters, now Israelis are also being questioned because of their political views

    Haaretz Editorial SendSend me email alerts
    Aug 02, 2018 12:26 AM

    https://www.haaretz.com/opinion/editorial/the-right-s-security-service-at-ben-gurion-airport-1.6338498

    The Shin Bet security service stopped an author and left-wing activist at the airport, questioned him about his opinions and political connections and warned him about the “slippery slope” that could lead him to dangerous places and confrontations with the authorities. There were times when such instances would be linked to undemocratic countries like China, Russia, Iran and Egypt, which see freedom of expression and the right of protest as threats to the regime. Now it’s happening in Israel, which calls itself as the only democracy in the Middle East.
    To really understand Israel and the Middle East - subscribe to Haaretz
    The details related this week by Moriel Rothman-Zecher about his detention at Ben-Gurion Airport ought to disturb everyone, even those who object to the activities of protest groups like Breaking the Silence. From his report it emerges that he, an Israeli citizen who lives in the United States, was not suspected of any illegal activity; he was asked about his links to perfectly legal organizations and was essentially warned that his activities make him a legitimate target for the Shin Bet (“Israeli author questioned by Shin Bet at Ben-Gurion Airport over involvement in leftist groups,” July 30). His interrogator also asked for the names of “the main activists” in All That’s Left, which he refused to provide.
    This is not a singular case; there have been a series of reports indicating that the Shin Bet and the border guards are turning Israel’s entry points into a filter designed to remove those whose opinions are suspicious or problematic in the eyes of the government. Last week a U.S. citizen, a senior member of the Jewish community who supports and donates to Israel, was reportedly detained at the airport when a pamphlet from Bethlehem with the word “Palestine” on the cover was found in his suitcase. One word is now sufficient to make someone a suspect, worthy of a humiliating delay and harassing questions.
    If there is a “slippery slope,” it’s the state, its elected officials, its employees and the defenders of its borders that are walking on it. It began with the automatic and indiscriminate delay of Palestinians and Israeli Arabs, degenerated into blacklists of BDS supporters whose entry was banned and is now slipping into Israelis being questioned because of their political views.
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    This is not a local initiative, but a faithful expression of government and coalition policy: to label protest organizations in general and those who work against the occupation in particular as hostile to Israel and ascribe to them an intent to harm and betray it. The questioning of Rothman-Zecher is a warning shot aimed at like-minded people in the hope they’ll take note and be deterred.
    According to the Shin Bet, the investigators acted “to fulfill the mission” of the security service. It seems that the questioning of Israelis about their political opinions is being conducted with permission and authority. But what happens in the airport doesn’t stay there; if policemen and investigators are not restrained, it won’t be long before citizens with opinions the government disapproves of will be woken by knocks on the door in the middle of the night, as in the most benighted of countries.
    The above article is Haaretz’s lead editorial, as published in the Hebrew and English newspapers in Israel.

  • When Israelis can no longer go to Macy’s
    The policy of deporting anyone who disagrees with government policy is wreaking havoc on what little remains of Israel’s positive image .
    By Gideon Levy | Dec. 11, 2016 | 3:17 AM
    http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/.premium-1.758151

    Israel presents: The thought police. The Deutsche Demokratische Republik at Ben-Gurion Airport. After denying entry to those whom it views as endangering its security, a standard of unparalleled flexibility and arbitrariness, and after interrogating and humiliating those whose origins reveal their dangerousness – another arbitrary standard – the next stage has arrived: Israel is deporting those whose opinions that state doesn’t like.

    It began with BDS supporters – there’s already a network of government informers – but it won’t end with them. Soon, it will be entry for Zionists only. He loves us, he loves us not: He loves us? Enter. He doesn’t? Go home.

    No such thing exists anywhere in the free world. Only in Israel would a high-ranking theologian be deported because someone thinks her organization supports boycotting Israel.

    This is the same Israel that dared to deport Noam Chomsky, no less, and also Norman Finkelstein – two famous intellectuals for whom even being Jewish was to no avail – as well as a Spanish clown who came to entertain the Palestinians, an American author who came to dedicate a playground for them and even an Israeli exile who wanted to visit his elderly mother on kibbutz. And we haven’t yet said anything about what happens to Israeli Arabs.

    In the spirit of the time and place, which is the spirit of Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan, this problem will only get worse. The gates of our military base will gradually close, not only on those deported, but on us. If it could, the state would long since have preventing Israelis not to its liking from entering their own country. That will be the next step.

    This policy is wreaking havoc on what little remains of Israel’s positive image, which was based entirely on its being a democracy for its own citizens. Every deportation like this sparks angry reactions in the deportee’s country of origin, which does more damage than any group like Breaking the Silence.

    Over the weekend, I attended a conference in Bethlehem that the deported theologian, Dr. Isabel Phiri, was also supposed to attend; her absence was embarrassing. She was the swallow that heralds the arrival of a McCarthyist autumn at Ben-Gurion Airport.

    Most of those deported are moral exemplars. Today, there is isn’t a single person of conscience in the world who supports the occupation, and most such people believe Israel deserves to be boycotted. But Israel won’t allow such people to enter. It’s a punishment.

    Some of them in any case only want to visit the occupied territories – to which there is no entry without Israeli permission – in order to express their solidarity with the victims. That’s their right, and their duty. Israel has no right to bar them from doing so, in territories that aren’t under its sovereignty and where its propagandists claim the occupation has ended, or that it never began.

    This ugly practice, which arouses no interest in Israel, can be countered in only one way: measure for measure. Interrogation for interrogation. Deportation for deportation. No country has yet dared to do so, for fear of Israel. But it seems they owe this to themselves, to their own honor and their own deported citizens.

    It could begin within stringent interrogations of anyone who lives in the occupied territories. In the same way that Palestinian-Americans are interrogated and humiliated at Ben-Gurion Airport, an Israeli from the settlement of Ma’aleh Adumim arriving at a Canadian airport will be questioned about his activities, his origins, his friends, his plans and his sex life; his computer will also be searched, just like they do at Ben-Gurion. After all, these are residents of communities that the rest of the world views as illegitimate.

    After the first settler is strip-searched at JFK Airport and his friend is detained for a day at Charles de Gaulle Airport, Israel will presumably start acting differently. But if that isn’t enough, it’s possible to emulate it further and deport Israelis on all kinds of pretexts more convincing than those Israel offers. If a critical theologian is denied entry to Israel because of her opinions, why should an Israeli pilot not be denied entry to Britain because of his past? And it will quickly snowball: Every settler, and perhaps even every Israeli, will require a visa, which will entail an investigation of his military record.

    Does anyone want all this? Has anyone been through the interrogations and humiliations at Ben-Gurion Airport? Has anyone tasted the experience of deportation en route to a sale at Macy’s, or to a Maccabi Tel Aviv game in Liege? Only once that happens will Israel become a country more open to all opinions.

    #expulsion

  • Haaretz investigation: Secret flight operating between Israel and Gulf state
    http://www.haaretz.com/news/middle-east/1.629457

    The airplane parked in a side lot at Ben-Gurion International Airport for the past several months does not attract any particular attention. But the plane, which bears a foreign flag on one side, is one of the more interesting of the hundreds of aircraft that take off and land at the airport every week.

    A Haaretz analysis of publicly available online flight data indicates that this civilian plane follows what appears to be a permanent flight path between Ben-Gurion Airport and an airport in a Gulf state.

    Israel’s relations with the Gulf states are extremely sensitive, however, and the flights are indirect because Israel does not have official diplomatic relations with the country in question.

    The flight data indicate that after taking off from Ben-Gurion, the plane spends a few days in the Gulf state in question and then returns to Israel. There have been several flights between Israel and the Gulf state recently.

    It remains unclear who or what is using the route, and whether that entity is Israeli. What is clear is that the Israel-Gulf route is being kept extremely low-profile.

    When asked about who uses the plane flying that route, the spokeswoman for the small foreign airline that owns it said that information was confidential.

    “Unfortunately, the information you have requested is confidential as it concerns a private client,” she said in a statement. “We have to remain discreet and cannot provide you with any details regarding this operation.”

    The airline that owns the mystery plane leases its aircraft, services and flight crews to companies and businesspeople. It also runs flights on special flight paths for airlines including Germany’s Lufthansa and Scandinavian Airlines.

    Licensing data for the aircraft indicate that it landed at Ben-Gurion Airport for the first time two days after the airline took ownership of the plane. The aircraft is fitted out with business-class seats, eight of which are placed around two tables at the front of the plane.

    Many Israeli businesspeople work quietly in the Gulf, though Israeli business activity there has decreased since the 2010 assassination of senior Hamas official Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in Dubai, which has been attributed to the Mossad.

    The French journal Intelligence Online reported in January 2012 that Zurich-based AGT International, a safety and security solutions provider whose founder and CEO is Israeli businessman Mati Kochavi, had sold $800 million worth of security equipment to protect oil facilities in the Gulf.

  • U.S. will continue to ostracize Ya’alon until he apologizes
    Not only is Israel’s defense minister detached from reality, but Ya’alon has managed to do the impossible: make people miss Ehud Barak.
    By Barak Ravid | Oct. 26, 2014
    Haaretz
    http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/1.622717

    The White House hazing suffered by Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon as he landed at Ben-Gurion Airport on Friday should surprise no one, least of all Ya’alon. One cannot humiliate and insult senior officials of the U.S. administration and expect the red carpet to be rolled out at the Department of State, or the door to the Oval Office to be opened.

    Yet Ya’alon was surprised. He thought U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry had forgotten that Ya’alon had called him “messianic and obsessive.” He thought that senior White House officials had forgiven him for preaching that the United States is showing weakness all over the world, and that American assistance to Israel should be seen “in proportion.”

    Ya’alon’s remarks to the Washington Post before the public humiliation showed the extent to which he is detached from reality. He tried to convey that it was business as usual, and said he and Kerry had overcome the crisis. Twenty-four hours later, that sounded like a bad joke.

    Ironically, it was U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel who strengthened Ya’alon’s misreading of the terrain. Instead of explaining to his Israeli counterpart how much anger had accumulated against him in the corridors of the U.S. administration, Hagel embraced and kissed Ya’alon in front of the cameras.

    After each of Ya’alon’s insulting remarks that further increased tensions between Jerusalem and Washington this summer, the defense minister published weak follow-up statements. But the U.S. administration made clear to Ya’alon more than once in recent months – both in public and privately – that he had to publicly and unequivocally apologize. But Ya’alon preferred to ignore the warning and to regard the crisis as a minor and transitory nuisance. To this day, he has not truly apologized.

    This week, when Ya’alon returns to his office in the Kirya [defense HQ] in Tel Aviv, he should invite over one of his predecessors, Benjamin Ben-Eliezer, who can tell him from personal experience what he must do. A leak from a 2002 meeting between Ben-Eliezer and Vice President Dick Cheney during media interviews turned Ben-Eliezer into persona non grata in Washington.

    Ben-Eliezer had to send a personal letter of apology to Cheney; apologize over the phone to National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice and her deputy, Elliott Abrams; and subject himself to a few months’ cooling-off period, during which he did not go to Washington. Only then, after a meeting with Cheney when the latter came to Israel, was the embargo on Ben-Eliezer lifted.

    Ya’alon is trying to play down the significance of the boycott against him. At every opportunity he mentions his good relations with Hagel and the fact that his really important meetings were with the defense secretary. But Hagel could not save him when the White House stopped the delivery of Hellfire missiles to Israel during Operation Protective Edge. If Ya’alon really thought that was a bureaucratic snafu, he was wrong.

    Ya’alon’s poor conduct has made him one of the only Israeli defense ministers ever to be ostracized by the American administration. And when an Israeli defense minister is ostracized, that means real damage to national security. Until he apologizes, he will not be a legitimate partner for dialogue with any senior official except Hagel.

    Ya’alon has managed to do the impossible and make quite a few people long for Ehud Barak’s years as defense minister. Barak had many faults, but he made a decisive contribution when it came to ties with the United States. In his meetings with President Barack Obama, he corrected quite a lot of the damage caused by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his close advisers.

    Today, there is no one to smooth things over with the White House. Ties between Netanyahu and Obama are bad; Israel’s ambassador to the United States, Ron Dermer, is on the outs; and now the defense minister is being given the cold shoulder. Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman has good ties with Kerry, but no more than that. The White House may like Justice Minister Tzipi Livni and Finance Minister Yair Lapid, but knows these two cannot deliver the goods. Thus, Israel has no effective channels of communication with the administration. With all critical diplomatic and security issues on the agenda, that is a great worry indeed.

  • Demeaned at Ben-Gurion airport: ’Now you know what Jews endured’
    By Amira Hass | Jan. 6, 2014
    Haaretz
    http://www.haaretz.com/news/features/.premium-1.567157

    Only half an hour before her flight from Israel, D. was standing almost completely naked while an Eastern European-looking security inspector touched her arms, legs and hips. “She also put her fingers in the inside top rim of my underwear,” the young and – may I add, brilliant – doctoral student wrote to me.

    I met D. several years ago on one of her research trips to Israel. She is neither Palestinian nor Jewish. She was born in the Middle East, but grew up in the West and carries a Western passport.

    D. arrived at Ben-Gurion International Airport three hours ahead of her scheduled departure time. As on all previous visits, she was told to open her suitcase and two carry-ons for a thorough search.

    But then, just 45 minutes before takeoff, D. was told she would have to undergo a body search and would not be allowed to board the plane with her laptop.

    D. wrote me in an email: “I protested by saying, ‘I refuse to leave my laptop ... this has all of my archival research on it ... How can I trust that it will be returned to me?’” D. asked the young white woman with blue eyes and long, straight hair, and her supervisor, a young, brown-haired man. “A third, slightly older man (also brown-haired) in a suit came to me and said that if I continued to delay the search, I would miss my flight and would be responsible for that.

    “I protested again, saying they were the ones who delayed the search of my suitcase, taking their time, getting distracted with other passengers around them, passing on tasks of checking my cellphone charger, my ceramics, my olive oil and such things to their colleagues, doing a lot of small talk and joking in the process.

    "I told him that I arrived the full three hours before my flight and they made me wait for long periods while they were searching the suitcase, so if I missed the flight it would be their responsibility. And the three of them began to argue back and say that no, it would be my responsibility.”

    None of three identified themselves and D. did not notice if they wore name tags.

    I imagine D. with her black eyes staring at her inspectors and, after a quick consideration of the balance of power, softening her face and following them. In this instance, her sharp mind was no advantage.

    While waiting to be frisked in a different area, D. overheard a conversation between a woman who spoke with an Arabic accent and an Israeli man.

    “Why are you treating me like this?” the woman was saying. “I am an old woman. I am in a wheelchair. I was born in this country. I have citizenship here. Do you think I have a bomb?”

    The last question set the young male officer off and he responded aggressively. “You’re not listening to me! We’re doing you a favour,” he snapped. “This way you don’t have to wait in line in the airport.”

    D. was required to take off all her clothes except for her underwear. She was also required to remove the Band-Aid from a finger that had been cut a day earlier.

    After the “Eastern European-looking” woman traced her gloved fingers over D.’s body, “she was also very interested in my hair,” D. wrote, “and worked her fingers along my scalp to see if there was anything in my hair.”

    As the female officer touched her, D. wrote that the woman said, “‘Sorry for the inconvenience, ma’am.’ I told her not to call it an inconvenience. ‘Do not call it that. This is humiliation.’ She responded, ‘I’m sorry this is how you see it.’ I responded: ‘This is not how I see it. This is what you are doing. You are humiliating people.’

    "And then, in all seriousness, she responds, ‘Well, now you know what they did to us in Germany.’ At that stage my back was to her. I had to stop and turn around to face her. I just glared at her and said ‘Really? And what does that make you then?’ With a blank face she responded, ‘I don’t know, ma’am.’”

    I responded to D. in an email: “The security check, the wasting of your time, the condescension – I believe it all because I have heard similar testimonies. But such a stupid comment? If anyone but you were to tell me such a thing, I wouldn’t have believed it.”

    D. wrote back: “I was totally shocked when I heard the comment, because of how candid and revealing it was. And at this point my body was reacting against me and my tears were already beginning to show and flow, despite my strong tone. I had to turn around and face her to make sure she was not joking. When I realized she was speaking in all seriousness, I asked her what I did.”

    The body strip search took 20-25 minutes, according to D.’s estimate. There were still 25 minutes before the plane took off. The rest of the journey to the gate passed quickly, even giving the laptop away to the security people in exchange for some sort of receipt.

    Several days after landing in the city where she lives, D. went to the airport to collect her laptop. Friends who know about computers checked the laptop and said they suspected that data was downloaded from it - perhaps for future monitoring as well.

    I didn’t request a comment from the Israel Airports Authority. They would only give the standard response: “Everything is conducted according to the instructions of security officials [meaning the Shin Bet security service], according to the law, and we regret the discomfort caused the passenger.”

    But that’s not the reason I gave up on asking. Both D. and I fear the vindictiveness of the bureaucratic–security apparatus. Openly reporting what happened behind the scenes at Ben-Gurion airport could cost D. in the future. She could be “denied entry for security reasons.”

  • Palestinian celebrity gets the ‘Jewish sticker’ at Ben-Gurion Airport | +972 Magazine

    http://972mag.com/palestinian-celebrity-gets-the-jewish-sticker-at-ben-gurion-airport/71429
    On the one hand it’s obvious the young man has just made my life easier by putting on the sticker for Jews. On the other hand, it’s one of the things that it’s hard to say thanks for. I mean, thank you for not considering me a terrorist any more? — Actress Mira Awad’s tale of Israeli airport security.

    Palestinian Christian singer Mira Awad, a celebrity in Israel who has participated in the Eurovision, the Israeli version of “Dancing with the Stars” and is also known for her role in Sayed Kashua’s television sitcom “Arab Labor,” posted the following status on her Facebook page today:

  • Obama préfère, malgré tout http://seenthis.net/messages/120434, le dôme de Fer au dôme du Rocher.

    Obama to visit Church of Nativity, Iron Dome to be moved to airport for photo-op
    http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/obama-to-visit-church-of-nativity-iron-dome-to-be-moved-to-airport-for-phot

    According to the itinerary that was presented on Monday morning, Obama will land in Israel at around noon on Wednesday, March 20 and be welcomed in an official ceremony at Ben-Gurion Airport. Immediately afterward, Obama will be shown an Iron Dome battery. Due to lack of time, the battery will be set up at Ben-Gurion Airport,...

    #les_habits_neufs_de_l'empereur

    • The advance American delegation responsible for organizing U.S. President Barack Obama’s visit to Israel this month arrived in the country on Sunday evening. The delegation of about 50 people, which includes diplomats, security and logistics personnel and White House representatives, met on Monday with high-ranking officials of the Prime Minister’s Office and the Foreign Ministry to finish preparing the schedule.

      The members of the delegation are expected to see the prime minister’s official residence on Balfour Street in Jerusalem, and to see the arrangements for the joint press conference with Obama and Netanyahu. They also visited the president’s official residence, where an official dinner will be held, and the International Conventions Center in Jerusalem, where Obama will give a speech for the Israeli public. On Tuesday, the advance delegation will visit Jerusalem’s King David Hotel, where Obama will be staying, as well as Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial and Museum and Israel’s national cemetery at Mount Herzl, which he is also expected to visit.

      On Wednesday, the American delegation will visit Ramallah and Bethlehem.
      Obama is expected during his trip to pay a visit to the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem on Friday, March 22, members of his delegation told Israeli government ministry representatives on Monday.

      According to a high-ranking Israeli official, that stop was added to his itinerary only in the past few days. The UN recognized the Church of the Nativity as a Palestinian World Heritage Site several months after Palestine became a full-fledged member of the organization.

      According to the itinerary that was presented on Monday morning, Obama will land in Israel at around noon on Wednesday, March 20 and be welcomed in an official ceremony at Ben-Gurion Airport. Immediately afterward, Obama will be shown an Iron Dome battery. Due to lack of time, the battery will be set up at Ben-Gurion Airport, and at the conclusion of his welcome ceremony, Obama will be joined by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Shimon Peres to be shown the battery.

      Later in the day, Obama will go to the president’s official residence in Jerusalem for a meeting with Peres. Afterward, he will meet with Netanyahu at the prime minister’s official residence and hold a press conference with him. Then, the two leaders will have dinner with their advisory teams.

      On Thursday morning, Obama will visit the Shrine of the Book at the Israel Museum and will be shown the Dead Sea Scrolls. Officials of the Prime Minister’s Bureau would also like Obama to see an exhibit of Israeli technological developments, but it is not yet clear whether the exhibition will be mounted in time for the president’s arrival.

      After visiting the Israel Museum, Obama will go to Ramallah, where he will meet with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and other high-ranking PA officials. At 5:00 PM, he will return to Jerusalem and give the major speech of his visit at the International Conventions Center.

      After the speech, at 6:00 PM, Obama will attend a reception organized by Secretary of State John Kerry at the American Consulate in Jerusalem, which is responsible for relations with the Palestinian Authority. Afterward, Obama will go to the president’s residence for an official dinner with the country’s highest officials.

      On Friday, Obama will visit Mount Herzl and Yad Vashem. He will lay wreaths at the tombs of Theodor Herzl and former Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and in the Hall of Remembrance at Yad Vashem. Afterward, he will meet in the King David Hotel with the head of the opposition – most likely Labor Party Chairwoman Shelly Yacimovich. Obama will then visit Bethlehem.

      On Friday afternoon, Obama will leave Israel after an official farewell ceremony at Ben-Gurion Airport.