A reason for security

10:34am Tuesday 26th February 2013 in Letters By Reader's letter

YOUR article on Tawfik Saabi’s experience on a recent visit to Israel (“York man’s nightmare in an Israeli prison cell”, February 18) omits several important points.

If a passenger arriving in a country deliberately withholds pertinent information, which is required by the authorities, the least he should expect is to be questioned by security personnel, be it in Heathrow, JFK or Tel Aviv airport.

Security measures inconvenience all of us, but they are put in place to protect us.

Passengers such as Mr Saabi, who mislead the authorities and hamper their ability to do their job effectively, are the nightmare of airport personnel and passengers all over the world.

Curtis Sinclair, Gordon Street, York.

Comments(14)

gwen4me says...
11:47am Tue 26 Feb 13

This man was blatantly discriminated against, no two ways about it. The Israeli state is, ironically, rapidly approaching the same totalitarian level as the third Reich.

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capt spaulding says...
12:17pm Tue 26 Feb 13

Strange that the comments were removed very quickly from the original article.

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roclank2000 says...
12:46pm Tue 26 Feb 13

Mr Sinclair is absolutely correct. No sympathy.

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Sillybillies says...
3:16pm Tue 26 Feb 13

http://www.yorkpress
.co.uk/news/10234386
.York_man_s_nightmar
e_in_an_Israeli_pris
on_cell/

He didn't tell the truth, and that's a stupid thing to do to the Israelis. He asked for it, was lucky it was only an overnight stay in a cell.

He got no support in the comments on the original story, which is no doubt why they were removed.

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gwen4me says...
3:20pm Tue 26 Feb 13

His only crime was being a Palestinian.

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gwen4me says...
3:25pm Tue 26 Feb 13

What bugged the Israeli border guard was the fact that he didn`t declare his original nationality. The guy has a British passport and that should be good enough for anybody.

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capt spaulding says...
3:37pm Tue 26 Feb 13

gwen4me wrote:
What bugged the Israeli border guard was the fact that he didn`t declare his original nationality. The guy has a British passport and that should be good enough for anybody.
You were there were you?
So you know for sure all the facts ?

I have lived in Israel and i know what day to day life is like there. They are very careful about who enters for very good reasons !

I wish our country were more choosey who they let in.

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gwen4me says...
4:12pm Tue 26 Feb 13

No, he probably turned up with his family, refused to show his passport, called the border staff a bunch of fascists and set out to make life difficult as possible for himself and everyone else. How inconsiderate of him to be originally palestinian. I hope they come to York and bulldoze his house for him.

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Jonthan says...
5:55pm Tue 26 Feb 13

I am a frequent visitor to Israel, and abuse of Palestinians is routine. Any liberal Israeli will admit as much.
I am totally unconvinced by the Israeli version of events in this case. Anyone of arab appearance is certain to encounter problems at Ben Gurion, but there is no way to enter Palestine except via Israel because Palestine is locked down under an illegal occupation

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Sillybillies says...
10:28pm Tue 26 Feb 13

Merely having an Israeli stamp on your passport will result in being denied entry into a number of Arab or Muslim countries. Telling lies about your nationality status will get you kicked out at the border of most countries in the world, and time in the cells in many.

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Jonthan says...
10:31am Wed 27 Feb 13

This is preposterous. Everyones current nationality is on their passport. That is the whole point of passports.
As someopne who has been through Ben Gurion airport many times I am convinced that it was not his passport details which caused Mr. Saabi to be banned, it was his Palestinan origins.
There are very few human rights laws in Israel and anti- arab racism is routine. Just look at the online version of today's Ynet newspaper

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Sillybillies says...
5:30pm Wed 27 Feb 13

On the FCO website
British nationals of Palestinian origin
If you are a British national of Palestinian origin (on the Palestinian Population Register or holding a Palestinian ID number), you will need a Palestinian passport/travel document in order to leave. If you are a British national with a Palestinian name or place of birth but without a Palestinian ID number, you may face problems. Be aware that a number of British nationals of Palestinian origin or British nationals married to Palestinian nationals have been refused entry since May 2006.

British citizenship has been debased by it being handed out to terrorists and potential terrorists almost on demand by a Home Office/Border Agency not fit for purpose.

So called British Citizens were responsible for the 7/7 London bombings, and others have been convicted of conspiracies to commit similar atrocities. They regularly turn up fighting UK and US troops in Iraq and Afghanistan and some have deservedly ended up at Guantanamo Bay.

The Israelis were quite right to be wary.

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aa42john says...
10:01pm Wed 27 Feb 13

Sillybilly is being just that - this guy was clearly guilty of being the wrong religion & colour and being born in the wrong place.

"Guilty of driving while black", they call it in the USA.

His wife who was also detained is my GP.

His kids are clearly a great threat.

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Sillybillies says...
11:19am Thu 28 Feb 13

He ignored Foreign Office advice and was caught out. The whole family was lucky not to be deported on the next flight to the UK.

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